


A Magician's Life Will Change

by HaloRocks1214



Series: Trucy has a Persona!AU [1]
Category: Persona 5, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Big Bro Ryuji, Blackmail, Courtroom Drama, Crossover, Father-Daughter Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff, Futaba and Trucy Are Best Friends, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mute!Akira, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, but he can also see something funky is going on, general trigger warning for mentioned/talked about dark things in chap 9, phantom thieves being smitten with trucy, phoenix is a good and supportive dad, selective mutism, time is my playground and im sorry in advance, trucy being smitten with morgana, unrealistic time skips, we talk about how the thieves became The Thieves. if ur a fan of P5 you know what ur getting into
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2020-02-25 22:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18711043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaloRocks1214/pseuds/HaloRocks1214
Summary: Okay, she'll be the first to admit, sneaking onto a work trip with daddy to a place neither of them has been was probably pretty stupid, but she wanted to spend time with him! Besides, the place they're in doesn't seem so bad, and she already finished all the homework that would've been passed out over the course of the next month. She'll just stick by daddy's side until he proves his client to be innocent, maybe they can do some sightseeing afterward, then, it's back home like nothing ever happened!The only thing that seems to be draining about this 'Shibuya' is the rumor mill. "Phantom Thieves of Hearts"? Really?Well, whatever it is, daddy says to ignore it. Even if they were real, there was no way she could get mixed up with them...(Hopefully) Updates at least every other month. No set day or time; justat leastevery other month





	1. Welcome to Shibuya

“ _You sure this was a good idea, boss?_ ”

“Hey, you know me, it’s what I’m known for. Besides, these people had been digging around for a while. Apparently, I was the eighth defense attorney they called, but the first to say yes! Also, this place is just another town on the map, it’s not like it’s anything supernatural or magical.”

“ _Mr. Wright, you of all people should be most concerned about visiting a new place, regardless of what impression it gives off._ ”

Grumbling could be heard from Phoenix, “Apollo, I don’t need you pointing out the obvious just yet, save it for the actual case.”

A sigh was heard from one member of the duo, “ _Whatever, just try not to get your life threatened this time, oh, and call later tonight when you get settled in your hotel! Don’t worry about the timezone difference, we’ll make up for it, okay boss?_ ”

“Sure thing, Athena, and you too, Apollo, be sure to have Trucy with you when you do, I’m sure she’s itching to hear from me. See ya!”

Two different goodbyes could be heard when Phoenix Wright hung up the phone. He held onto the device as he set it on his thigh to look out the window of the taxi he was riding. This ‘Shibuya’ seemed to be bustling with life in all shapes and sizes.

Now would be a good time to look over his case files. Picking up his suitcase, he pulls out the papers that were sent over to him. The person he was defending was a 20-something-year-old man by the name of Yasumi Tanosuke. He was on trial for the murder of Kaneda Naizen.

Kaneda and Yasumi were good friends, great even, but for the last few weeks, their relationship had been rocky. Finally, two weeks ago from today, they blew up in each other’s faces and stormed away from one another. A neighbor had needed to borrow something from Kaneda a week later. She found his door unlocked. Concerned, the neighbor walked in the house.

That was when she found his dead body. 

Not totally in his favor, and he might’ve actually said no, but the family of Yasumi was incredibly sincere in their call, and, after looking through the case a little bit, Phoenix found one tiny contradiction, and any contradiction is a good one. 

“Hey, excuse me, sir, we’ve arrived at your destination.”

Blinking out of his train of thought, he looked toward the front of the car to see the driver looking at him with the rear-view mirror. Phoenix then looked out the window to see that he really was in front of the hotel he booked.

After the process of getting out of the car, paying the driver (way too much cash for a half an hour drive), getting in the hotel and getting to his room, Phoenix was sitting at the desk in the room to take a breather.

He’d gone through the stuff in his carry-on briefly to see everything was still there, even laying out some of the things he would need for the next few days. The only clothes that were strewn about the room so far were his coat and shoes he was wearing to get over to this new country. He had yet to look through his suitcases full of clothes.

Speaking of his suitcases, Phoenix heard a small rumble in his room. 

Looking around, he heard it again, and this time, he even saw it. His large suitcase was making quite the racket. He slowly inched towards it. Only a few feet away, Phoenix was left utterly shocked as another _person_ stepped out of it.

“Trucy?!”

Yep, the one stepping out from the biggest suitcase was none other than his daughter: Trucy Wright. She seemingly doesn’t see anything wrong with this. She was wiping down the front of her clothes when Phoenix finally got his words back.

“Trucy! What did I tell you about this kind of stuff?!”

Trucy scratched the back of her head sheepishly, “Hehe, sorry daddy! I just couldn’t resist this one!”

Phoenix was still disappointed, “That’s not the point! I told you there would be serious consequences if you did this! Not just from me, what about school? Your show?! I don’t even have clothes packed for you!”

Trucy looked offended, “Daddy! You know I always get my homework done early so I can focus on my show more! In fact, I went so far as to even get a month’s worth of homework finished! The show was a little worrisome, but if I didn’t trust my crew with my life, let alone my job, what kind of magician would I be?! Besides, I already packed clothes.”

The two stared each other down intensely. It honestly looked like they wanted to kill each other, but in reality, they were just a wee bit disgruntled with one another. After the makeshift staring contest, Phoenix realized that he didn’t really have time to send her back anyway, nor did she seem to be wavering. Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose. He only conceded a little bit. 

As long as he figures out some kind of punishment before they get back, he might as well let this happen, “Fine, you can stay-” Trucy gasped with excitement, “- but promise you’ll stay by my side the entire time! This doesn’t mean you’re let off the hook for this, either.”

Trucy nodded her head fervently.

Phoenix let out another sigh, “Alright, first things first: you- go to bed. We have a long couple of days ahead of us, and I don’t want you to get overwhelmed.”

Trucy was already bouncing up and down with excitement. When Phoenix finished his statement, she zoomed past him to head to the bathroom, “Oh, thank you, daddy! I promise I won’t disappoint!”

With the noise of a door locking, Phoenix just waited for the obvious. Following soon after the door locked, it just as quickly unlocked and a hand came out from the open crack, “Hey, daddy?-”

Phoenix walked over with her clothes and deposited them into the hand. In his silent waiting, he dug through his suitcase to find that she did, in fact, pack her own clothes, “Here you go.”

The clothes and hand zipped back inside while the door locked. A muffled “thank you!” was shouted from the other side.

Letting out one last sigh, Phoenix went back over to his stuff to look over the information one more time, but before he could, his phone vibrated violently.

Raising his eyebrows, he was curious as he went to pick it up. When he put it to his ear, he wasn’t even allowed to say hello before an anxiety-filled voice started to speak.

“ _Heeyyy, boss, how’s it hanging?_ ”

The tone of Athena’s voice made Phoenix’s eyebrow twitch. It was an extremely cautious and nervous one, which means she’s obviously hiding something. Apollo’s tone wasn’t much better.

“ _Hey, Mr. Wright, we just wanted to say hi and check up on you! I’m assuming you’ve made it to your hotel, so I told Athena to call you. If you haven’t, well, I’m sorry about that-_ ”

“Neither of you can find Trucy, can you?”

Dead silence met him from the other side of the call

Phoenix pinched his nose once again and let out his actual last sigh, “Don’t worry, I know where she is…”

\---

“Uuuuuuuugh, I’m tired!”

“As whiny as that was, I agree with the sentiment.”

“All that for nothing?! Really?! We weren’t even able to find the target!” 

“That Reaper got really close too. I thought we were about to have to fight it this time.”

“I suppose this means tomorrow is another full day spent in Mementos.”

“But I have programs that need further tweaking! Can’t we take a break?”

“Well, what do you say, chief? The public has spoken.”

A few moments of silence was heard before Akira looked around at his team and nodded his head. No Mementos for tomorrow, at least.

Many sighs of relief were heard from the group of friends. They all said their thank yous, goodbyes, and split off to head to their respective houses. Getting into the cafe, Akira waved at Sojiro who was wiping down the counter. Akira sat down at the counter on the other side.

Sojiro had just finished wiping down all of it when he decided to start small talk, “Long day? You look like you’re ready to collapse in on yourself.”

Akira could only shrug as he pulled out a piece of paper from his bag to examine. Morgana had also gotten out when Kurusu sat down but sat in the chair next to him. The Boss had just finished wiping the counter down, so the cat didn’t feel like taking any chances.

Sojiro turned around to hang up the wet rag and wash his hands, “I’m assuming Futaba is in the same mood, or at least a similar one?”

Akira nodded his head as he pulled out a pencil to add some things to the paper.

With dry and clean hands, Sojiro stepped around the counter and placed a hand on Kurusu’s shoulder, “Just try not to pass out on the stairs when you walk up them. I’m heading home for the night, you know what to do.”

Akira waved goodbye as Sojiro walked out the door and locked up. Seeing he was getting nowhere with this plan, Akira sighed and put everything back in his bag. He’s not awake enough to shower, so he’s just going to wash his hands in the sink behind the counter and call it good.

Before that, Akira turned on the TV in the cafe so he could listen to some noise. Morgana watched intently while Akira just listened. There appears to be lots of drama in the news, what else is new?

**“The case of Yasumi Tanosuke is already heated, and nobody has even set foot in a courtroom yet! Turns out, the family of the defendant was able to find a lawyer!”**

**“I can’t help but feel pity for the poor sap who said yes. They either have a death wish or have never heard of Wakisaka Niou until now.”**

**“You do have a point there! In all his life of being a prosecutor, Wakisaka has never let anyone be innocent under his watch. Maybe this newcomer can put Wakisaka down a peg!”**

**“Don’t be so sure of anything just yet, my friend!”**

Akira wiped his hands dry and clicked the TV off for the night to go and get ready for sleep while Morgana sprinted up the stairs in front of him. Tomorrow is a free day, so that means it’ll be a long one. He has to get a lot done to be ready for whatever is to come next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this came from my stupid brain when i thought about how futaba and trucy would get along. me being me, took the idea, ran with it, and ended up jumping out the window along with it. does this count as crack? probably. hope you enjoy it anyways! 
> 
> i do wanna give a fair warning that this fic will be based more on the persona games format than the aa ones since i know the persona one better. AKA this fic will be from the pov of trucy and the thieves the majority of the time. there aint gonna be a lot of the actual case/court drama involved unless it needs to be mentioned. im also trying a new way to tag certain things cuz why not
> 
> let me know if you spot any major typos! im willing to take criticism as long as you give it respectfully!
> 
> lf you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	2. A Chance Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here it is! Shibuya in all of its glory!... It's kind of boring, Trucy thinks, at least in the buildings and places to go. The people, however, will be the best and most surprising thing she's ever seen in her life...
> 
> Well, that might be an exaggeration, but she's not lying when she says the people will catch her off guard more than once.

“Hello, it’s nice to finally see you face to face. I’m Phoenix Wright.”

“O-oh, y-yes, it’s nice to meet you as well. Please, come in.”

Trucy didn’t know what to make of the situation.

The interview went fine, not perfect, the interviewees kept telling half-truths when he asked them questions, as per usual, but her daddy was able to find enough info to feel comfortable to continue forward. However, that’s not what Trucy was confused about.

You see, many times when her daddy or Apollo or even Athena go out to meet witnesses, or even the defense themselves, they can and will be nervous and leave out details that are extremely important to the true story. They always understand, however, even after just a little bit of prodding and pushing.

But this time… this time it was a _weird_ kind of nervousness. The family seemed _scared_ to tell the full truth, and it boggled her mind. Didn’t these people _want_ his help? Weren’t they the ones that _called_ him in the first place? Then again, he was the _8th_ one, maybe they didn’t think he was Grade-A material or something?

Well, whatever the reasoning, Trucy picked up that her daddy also saw them being secretive. It’s why he was getting so annoyed partway through the meeting. Eventually, the family let slip some important place that Trucy honestly forgot the name of. When Phoenix heard this, he questioned them about it more, and they relented.

After a little bit of that, Phoenix and the family shook hands and said goodbye, then Trucy followed her daddy, and now they were just sitting down on a train that was heading back to the area with their hotel. They were probably going to rest for the next few days before daddy had to go out and do his lawyerly things. Trucy brought a little bit of the ponytail she was wearing out in front of her to fiddle with

Oh, yeah, she was currently not wearing her normal magician outfit. As much as it hurt her to let it go, she thought it would be smart to scout out the area before showing other people here who she obviously was (if they’ve heard of her show, that is). She was wearing the aforementioned ponytail, along with a dull-ish red t-shirt and blue jeans with white sneakers.

Not the most incredible thing she’s come up with, but the ponytail sure is cute!

Fiddling her thumbs, Trucy’s mind started to drift off. In the midst of her daydreaming, she heard other passengers start to talk about- wait, are they talking daddy’s case? Why?!

“Wakisaka is is practically a god! Which monumental idiot said yes to facing him?”

“Someone with a death wish, cleary. Hopefully, the poor son of a gun makes it out alive.”

“‘Do they have a death wish?’ Man, I’d rather ask whether or not they have _brain damage._ This was incredibly stupid of them.”

Well, aren’t they certainly a rude bunch of folks? However, what really brought her back to reality wasn’t her anger at the strangers, but it was her dad leaning back and releasing the tension from his shoulders, “Man, the first day has already been nuts. You’re still sure you can handle this?”

Trucy pouted playfully, “C’ mon, daddy, I said so in the hour debate we had this morning! Even Mr. Hat backed me up, remember?”

Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose, yet Trucy could see the smile behind his hand, “Yes, Trucy, I vividly remember Mr. Hat’s hat getting shoved in my face, more than once, in a vain attempt to prove certain points of yours. I think I just said yes because I getting worried he was going to use that hat to suffocate me.” Phoenix pulled his hand away from his nose and smiled directly at his daughter.

Trucy giggled and smiled back. It was nice hanging out with daddy like this. She decided to go in for a hug, but the train abruptly stopped, making her hug more like a clumsy stumble into her father’s arms. Sitting back up, both parent and child looked up at the PA system when it started to talk. 

**“We’re sorry for any inconveniences this may bring, but a problem has been made clear and it is requested that the passengers evacuate the train for the time being.”**

Speaking of a long day, Trucy felt pity for her daddy when she heard him let out the longest groan in his life.

\---

The town was arguably even more crowded than the train, and that’s saying something considering how small the train car was.

Her daddy was currently trying to make sense of a map to figure out where to go and what to do, all the while Trucy just stood next to him and held his hand. The sea of travelers and residents were fierce, and she didn’t want to get swept away by them from him in the end.

Phoenix used his free hand to scratch his head, “Well, if my assumptions are correct, down a block or so, across the street and to the left seems to be a restaurant we can sit at. Does that sound good?”

Trucy nodded her head as she scouted the area down the street. Jeez, everywhere you look it seemed to just get more and more crowded! There was no escape from it! Despite that, the father-daughter duo started their trek into madness. The first part- walk a block down the street to the crosswalk- went great. When they tried _using_ the crosswalk was when it went to shit.

See, the thing about city crosswalks is that, no one will let up. They want to use it, and they will barrel anyone over that gets in their way. While Trucy didn’t get trampled, thanks to small miracles, the already humongous crowd seemed to double in size _again_ and cause her to lose her grip.

The other people were pushing her back, while everyone else pushed her daddy forward. Both could feel it, but neither could do anything to remedy it. Trucy called out to her dad, who she thinks she saw call out to her as well, but it didn’t matter. Trucy was back where she started and Phoenix was across the street without a daughter.

Alright, she needed to get out of this mess before she starts to hyperventilate. It’s still way too crowded and apparently will always be. All she needs in some open air and a place to stretch so she was no longer standing straight as a stick. Fighting against the current, Trucy was finally able to break free and stumbled clumsily into an alleyway. 

As soon as she got in, she used all her weight and leaned against a wall to breathe heavily and catch her breath. Her momentary break was going well, fantastic even ( _anything_ is better than out _there_ ), when an ominous voice started speaking a few feet away, causing her tense up again as if she were back out in that street.

“Well, well, well, would you look at this?”

Trucy was instantly scared. She looked up from her feet to look down the alleyway to see three thugs appear in the darkness. Two men, one woman, all of them with malicious intent, no doubt. They weren’t particularly bulky, which probably meant they weren’t that strong, but Trucy didn’t want to take any chances.

“Girly here looks like she’s got a lot of money. So, what about it? Do ya?”

She started to back away inch by inch. She was very meticulous as to not have them see her do it. She was also _terrified._ She wasn’t making any kind of noise, only staring wide-eyed at the threat. Regardless, she made it about a foot before the lady pointed it out.

“Hey, where are you going? We just want to have a little chat and maybe pear into those pockets of yours- h- hey!”

Screw it. Trucy needs to get out of here before she passes out. Turning 180 on her heel, she _tried_ to get the hell out of the alleyway. Across the street, which was where the crosswalk came out to, was her dad. He seemed to be fearfully looking around for something, and that thing was probably her. She figured she had nothing to lose when she decided to get his attention.

“DA-”

That’s the thing about “tried”. Instead of calling out to him, a hand that came over her mouth made it sound like more of a grunt instead. The hand stayed there, even lifting her off the ground by a few inches, leaving her feet to dangle and frantically wave around in an attempt to break free.

“Damn brat! Do you wanna die as well?!”

Trucy shook her head frantically, tears starting to form and some falling down her face. She shook it as a way to say _no! I don’t want to be robbed either!_ but the thugs took it as something else.

“Oh, so now the little baby wants to cooperate with us? Well, too bad! You’ve pissed us off, so you don’t get a say in the death part in this negotiation.”

Trucy muffled a screech behind the hand as it got tighter, the tears were coming full force, and her breath was going 10 times faster. This isn’t how she wanted to die! She didn’t want to die at all! But unless her daddy comes in at the last second, it seems like she doesn’t have a choice.

She made her last thoughts, ‘I’m really sorry daddy! I’m so-’

“ _Hey!_ ”

Then, the world stopped.

The hand’s grip got less tight as the three thugs turned around to the other end of the alleyway. Trucy was made to look too, and she was surprised and scared at the sight. At the end of the alleyway stood a lanky teenager. He had blonde hair with a t-shirt that somehow managed to be an even brighter yellow than his hair. His pants were generic, but he also wore a black-ish jacket, whose pockets is where the boy’s hands were currently residing.

He also had a glare like something fierce. He continued what he was saying.

“What the hell are you bastards doing to that girl! Is no not enough for you people?”

Now here’s the reason Trucy was scared: instead of getting help, or even just running away to save himself, the guy was _walking closer._ It almost felt like his feet pounding against the ground was making the earth shudder in his fury.

Trucy tried to motion to him to get away, leave before you get hurt, but the other guy thug stepped in between his buddies, ready for an easy challenge, “Aw, the little puppy wants to play fight! Looks like this got us a two for one deal. Don’t worry, I’ll make th _is-_ ”

During the time the thug was slowly striding forward, the blonde soon-to-be-hero was walking way faster. Halfway through the typical bad guy monologue, the teen grabbed his foe’s arm, yanked really hard, and threw him down on the ground. The blonde kid then stood up, panting, and wiped his face, ready for more.

Now it was the woman’s turn to get mad, “You son of a bitch!” The woman pulled a knife out, which made Trucy flinch, but it didn’t matter. She charged up to the guy, missed her stab when the boy sidestepped, then, he grabbed her wrist and made her drop the knife.

Her last effort before being knocked out was to scratch his face. It worked only for a moment, with the teen yelling out a “frick!” and a hiss from her fingernails scraping him. She got him right on the cheek, but even that couldn’t prevent him from picking her up and slamming her down, knocking her out cold.

The man that was holding Trucy let her go abruptly. She landed on the hard ground and on her butt. It hurt, no doubt it would be sore for a little while. As she was soothing her bottom, she heard and watched as the man who was holding her trying to run away. Her blonde hero ran past her, surprising her in the process.

She turned around and sat on her knees. She watched as the teen caught up to the man and made a sweeping motion with his leg when he was close enough. The man in question was taken down by the attack, making it three out of three thugs that no longer have to be worried about.

Trucy was still in a state of shock as the boy walked back over to her non-threateningly. That doesn’t mean she still wasn’t on the verge of passing out. He was also breathing heavily. Huh, so was she, weird coincidences. Trucy was still taking in what happened with a stammer in her voice, “S-sorry, I d-don’t-”

A hand filled her vision, “Hey, no worries, need a hand?”

Trucy looked up in awe at her savior. He was bending over and reaching his hand out, waiting to see if she’ll take it to help herself. Still staring directly at his smiling face (it was practically calming), she shakily took his help to stand up. When she finally was on her feet, the two heard a voice shout a name.

“TRUCY!”

Both kids looked over at the entrance Trucy tried to use to escape. Leaning against the wall was Phoenix Wright, somewhat disheveled. He calmed down when he saw Trucy relatively unharmed. Still, that didn’t deter him from swiftly walking over to put his hands on her shoulders.

“Thank God,” he whispered when he pulled her into a hug, which she gratefully returned, “I heard that first scream you made when you called out to me, but it took me way too long to figure out where it came from, and even longer to get over here. This might be a stupid question, but are you okay?”

He gently pushed her out of his embrace and kept his hands on her shoulders. He looked her over as she nodded her head, albeit a little shakily. She was still reeling over what happened, “Yeah, I’m good, and it’s all thank to… I’m sorry, I never caught your name-”

The newcomer waved her off and grinned sheepishly, putting the hand he used to wave behind his head, “Sorry, that’s cuz I haven’t told you yet. The name’s Ryuji Sakamoto! You can just call me Ryuji.”

He then took his hand from behind his head and put it out in front so they could shake it. First, Trucy, then Phoenix. Phoenix talked while he performed his motions, “Well, Ryuji, you have my humblest gratitude. If it weren’t for you, chances are that- _holy crap-_ are you okay? You’re bleeding!”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow in moderate confusion, before realizing and reaching up to touch his cheek. He pulled his fingers back and saw blood, “Huh? Oh, I am. I didn’t realize how sharp the bitch’s nails were until now.”

Trucy giggled when her dad got miffed at the language usage but immediately got forlorn at the principle behind what Ryuji was saying, “And that’s my fault too. I’m so so sorry, if I hadn’t been there you wouldn't have had to help and put yourself in danger-”

Ryuji placed a comforting hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t start to hyperventilate like before, “Hey, I said no worries. Besides, I’ve had worse over even more stupid circumstances, this is nothing.”

Trucy thinned her lips. She wasn’t sure what that meant.

Phoenix pulled out his handkerchief and gave it to the boy, “Regardless, I owe you a great debt. Hey, do you know how to get down the restaurant down the street by any chance?”

Ryuji was wiping his cheek with the cloth, “Hmm? I believe so, why do you ask?”

Phoenix put his arm around Trucy, “Well, my daughter and I are visitors here, tourists almost, and don’t really know where to go. Our train is down for the next couple of hours, and, especially after what happened, we’d like a break.”

Trucy nodded her head rapidly.

Ryuji pulled the handkerchief away to inspect it. The cut wasn’t that bad, he’d even wager to say it stopped bleeding, “Oh, right, I heard people passing by talking about how the trains are down for the rest of the day. Sorry to see you caught up in that. I’d be happy to take you to the place you want to go if you’d like.”

Ryuji did as he promised, but all three of them had disappointed looks fill their faces when they stood in front of the restaurant. On the door was a big fat CLOSED FOR CLEANING sign. Phoenix sighed. He was going to thank the boy for taking them here even though it didn’t work out, but was prevented from speaking by the boy himself when the kid yelled out, “Oh! I know!”

Trucy was instantly curious, “What? What do you know?”

Phoenix just watched as Ryuji explained further, “I know somewhere you can go! It’s kind of out of the way, but trains are down until tonight at least, right?” The two nodded. Ryuji grinned wider, “Then that’s perfect! If you follow me, hang out for about an hour or two, come back the way you came, you’ll even have time to hang out here before the trains come back on!”

Trucy and Phoenix looked from Ryuji to each other, stared as if telepathically communicating, then looked back at Ryuji, who seemed to be nervous that they would say no.

Phoenix looked back at his daughter once more. With her nod, he looked at Ryuji with a small grin, “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. What’s this place called?”

Ryuji’s grin was ten times wider than Phoenix’s.

\---

“Welcome to none other than Cafe LeBlanc!”

Ryuji practically kicked down the door and walked in like he owned the place. Trucy and Phoenix poked their heads in the door frame before deciding to walk in themselves. It was very small but very roomy at the same time. It had mainly dark colors, with the table tops being made up of light beige material. Jars lined the wall behind the counter, filled with coffee beans. 

Magazines and newspapers were scattered around for anyone that wanted to read them. A couple of plants were here and there as well. In the back, by what they assume is the bathroom, are stairs leading up to somewhere. All in all, this seemed like a pretty normal cafe, so what made it so special?

“Ryuji, for Pete’s sake! What did we say about kicking the door open?!”

“The Boss made you pay for that chair, remember? How much do you think that door is gonna cost?”

In front of them, the suddenly boisterous Sakamoto practically curled in on himself, “S-sorry, guys! I’m just a little excited about current events, is all.” His grin turned sheepish.

The first lady that called him out stood up from the booth she was in, “I don’t know what in the world could make you want to eviscerate a door like you did that chair, but- oh my god?! What the hell happened to you?!”

The second lady stood up abruptly to turn around. Not only did she, but the guy washing dishes behind the counter, another lady in pink at the counter, and one more guy and one more girl sitting at the table behind the first two ladies all either just turned around to look at Ryuji or stood up with along with that first action.

Ryuji seemed to want to dissipate out of existence, “Guys, please, it’s a goddamn scratch. It’s not like I came in with a bullet wound.”

The first lady stormed up to him to check out his cheek, “I suppose that’s fair, but that leads me to my next question: why don’t you have the bags of stuff we wanted you to get? Does this have anything to do with that?”

Ryuji took in her words for a little bit before putting both hands on his face and groaning loudly, “Ohhhh my god! I totally forgot! I got so caught up in the scene before me I didn’t get what I came out for. Uuugghh…”

The lady in front of him just sighed at her friend's forgetfulness. The second lady walked over to Ryuji with a cloth in hand to wipe his cheek clean, “That’s alright, it’s fine, but what gave you that scratch? I’m guessing it relates to why you’re so giddy?”

Ryuji’s puppy-like nature was back. He was practically jumping up and down, “Oh, yeah! Guys, I want you to meet…” Ryuji stepped to the side to reveal Trucy and Phoenix, who were just as confused as the rest of the people in the cafe as to why Ryuji’s voice trailed off.

Trucy was the one to ask, “Hey, you okay?”

Ryuji looked at her nervously, “I, uh… never learned you’re guys’ names.”

A collective sigh was given by everyone.

In the end, Trucy spoke for both of them, “My name is Trucy Wright, and this here is my father, Phoenix Wright! We’ve come to this country for business. I was separated from my dad here and was nearly hurt badly by some thugs, but Ryuji came in and saved me! He invited us to this place to waste time since our train is going to be down until around dinner time.”

Phoenix nodded along to her story and waited until she was done, “Exactly that. We’re sorry if we’re intruding in on… whatever you all had planned here.”

The group of friends all looked around at each other before smiling gently. The second lady walked past Ryuji and stuck her hand out much like Ryuji did earlier, “Well it’s nice to meet you, Phoenix and Trucy, my name is Makoto Nijima, and this here is Ann Takamaki.” Makoto turned and pointed at the first woman while Phoenix shook Makoto’s other hand.

Ann waved and smiled. Another lady, the one who was sitting at the counter, started speaking, “Hello, I’m Haru Okumura. I’m happy to meet you two.”

The guy who was sitting at the table behind Ann and Makoto stood up and bowed, “I’m pleased to meet your acquaintance. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa.” He went and sat back down, “This bundle of joy sitting in front of me is Futaba Sakura, she is pleased to meet you as well.”

Trucy heard the girl grumble a few things before sitting up, “Hi!” She waved joyfully, “It’s nice to meet you! Any friend of Ryuji is a friend of ours!”

Trucy and Phoenix looked around at the wily group around them. They varied so much in many ways, yet they all worked so perfectly in sync with one right after the other. Clearly, they were a tight-knit group, practically family.

Ryuji went and sat down at another chair on the counter. While he spoke, Haru picked a bandage out of her purse and put it on his cheek, “I’m glad to see you all getting along nicely, but before we get to the games, there’s one more person you need to meet.”

Ryuji looked behind himself while Trucy and Phoenix followed his line of sight. It was the guy who was washing dishes. He was frantically scribbling something on a piece of paper. Once he was done, he held it up for Trucy and Phoenix to read.

_‘Hello there. My name is Akira Kurusu. Sorry, I don’t like to talk all that much unless I have to. I know Sign Language if it helps. I’m glad to see you made friends with Sakamoto.’_

Once they were done reading the note, Phoenix smiled at Akira, “It’s all good. I know a little, but probably not enough to make conversation. Besides, I don’t mind a quiet kid every once in a while. It’s a nice break.”

Trucy gasped in horror behind her father, faking offense. She put her hands on her cheeks to ramp up the act, “Daddy! What could you possibly _mean?!_ ”

Phoenix rolled his eyes while the others laughed. Good to see they have a positive relationship. However, before they can sit down and do anything, Akira has to finish this load of dishes. Hopefully, it won’t take too-

“Well, this seems to be a lively bunch. Don’t worry, kid, I can handle the rest if you want a break.”

Everyone looked at the door to see a man wearing a striped apron walk in. He was also wearing a pair of glasses shaped like half circles, his beard was extremely pointing and frayed at the ends, and underneath his apron was a pink shirt.

Trucy didn’t know who he could be, but everyone else did. Ryuji was smiling, “Really, Boss? You 100% sure? Like, you're not gonna bring this up later as a way to get a-”

The man rolled his eyes, “Yes, Sakamoto, I’m sure.” He walked up closer to Phoenix and held out his hand to be shaken, “Where are my manners, my name is Sojiro Sakura. Glad to see others are being added to this ragtag bunch of people.”

Phoenix also shook his hand, “Nice to meet you, I’m Phoenix Wright. If you don’t mind, you said your last name was ‘Sakura’?”

Sojiro thought what his question meant before smiling, “Yes, I’m Futaba’s father if that’s what you’re asking. With a question like that, is it safe to assume that this girl over here is yours?”

Trucy grinned a Trucy Grin, “Yep! Trucy Wright at your service! Nice to meet you, sir!” She stuck out her hand for Sojiro to shake, which he did. Now that everyone was acquainted, it was time to hang out and party the night away!

Not really, but like their study sessions, they all formed around a table and pulled out a normal deck of cards among other games to play. It was a whole lot of stinking fun, with many moments sticking out above the others in memorability.

Like Phoenix kicking everyone’s butts at poker, especially Ryuji:

“C’ mon, dude! That’s not fair!”

“Sorry, there isn’t a whole lot of fairness to poker as you’ll find out.”

“I think I’m finding out that right now, actually- wha- AGAIN? HOW?!”

Or Akira being able to be one of the few people to trick daddy:

“That’s why I’m 100% positive the murderer has to be… you! Akira Kurusu!”

“...” A shake of the head. Phoenix was confused as Haru checked the cards.

“Let us see... oops! Looks like you were wrong, Mr. Wright.”

Trucy gasped. Phoenix was left dumbfounded.

“What? H- how?!”

Akira shrugged. Futaba grinned cheekily.

“You’ll find he’s quite the trickster at heart.”

Or, Trucy’s personal favorite:

Fur rubbed up against Trucy’s legs, causing her to shriek.

Phoenix was quick to put down his cards, “What is it, Trucy?!”

Trucy’s knees were pulled up against her, “S-something down there! It brushed my leg! It was so _furry!_ ”

Before Phoenix could investigate, Ryuji put his cards down as well, albeit a little bit more forcefully, and went under the table and whisper-shouted, “ _You little shit!_ ”

Phoenix and Trucy watched as Sakamoto hit his head against the bottom of the table, letting out an “ow” in the process, before coming back up with… is that a cat?!

Ann was rolling her eyes, but smiling as well, “That’s right, you two haven’t met Morgana yet. Say hi, kitty.”

The cat let out a small mew. Phoenix and Trucy saw it as cute, completely unaware of the obscenity that was spoken to the others. In fact, Trucy didn’t just see it as cute, she saw it as downright _adorable._

“Awwwww! You guys have a cat?! I had no idea! Can I hold it? Can I? Can I?!”

The others looked around at each other before they all cheekily grinned. “Sure thing, here you go!” Ryuji passed off Morgana to Trucy, who took the cat with open arms, “It’s a he, by the way.”

Trucy placed Morgana down in her lap and started to pet him fervently. At first, Morgana wanted _out,_ but with a few strokes on his back, he was a purring mess in Trucy’s lap, unable to say no. Futaba couldn’t help but take pictures.

All the while, Phoenix slithered away to the counter where Sojiro was finishing cleaning up. Phoenix sat down with a serene smile on his face. Sojiro couldn’t help but notice.

“It’s always nice to see them reignite some childhood innocence, isn’t it?”

Phoenix rested his chin on his hands, “Yep, it’s always a sight to behold… hey, I’m sorry if this is rude, especially since we just met, but do you mind me asking a question?”

Sojiro took a plate and started to wipe it, “Hmm, sure, I’m all ears.”

Phoenix ruffled his own hair as he cleared his throat, “I was just wondering… Futaba is a wonderful girl, I bet she’s an even more wonderful daughter, but... I can’t help but notice that-”

“She looks nothing like me?” Sojiro interrupted. Phoenix snapped his head up to look at Sojiro, who was just smiling, “Yeah, don’t worry, I get it. Futaba isn’t mine by blood. I married her mother, who was… amazing. I highly doubt I’ll meet another one like her.”

Phoenix wasn’t expecting a semi-life story, but he might as well roll with it, “Wow, I’m happy to hear that. I get the feeling she’s not around anymore, and something I’m sorry for. If it’s of any interest to you, I was curious because, well, my daughter is actually adopted.”

Sojiro stopped wiping the plate for a moment, before wiping it again and putting it in the rack, “Huh, I’m genuinely surprised. I would have never guessed. Happy to see you two get along so well regardless.”

Phoenix grinned at that fact, “So am I, Mr. Sakura, so am I.”

“Whoah! You can really do magic?!”

The adults looked back at the table full of children. Sojiro was confused, but Phoenix knew exactly what had just happened. Trucy must have told them about her job.

Akira was smiling in pride, while Futaba had stars in her eyes, “Cool! I may be a technology nerd, but I can enjoy a good magic trick when I see it! Can you show us one?”

Yusuke cleared his throat, “As abrupt as that was, I too would like to see a demonstration if possible. We do have a deck of cards that can be used.”

Trucy thinned her lips at the group around her. Literally, everyone was making some form of puppy eyes, and Trucy just couldn’t say no. It’s always fun showing off the talent of her profession and troupe. She picked up a couple of cards and put them in a neat pile.

While Morgana slept in her lap, everybody else watched with analytical eyes, hoping to catch the truth behind the trick she uses. Setting the cards, down, Trucy reached over and grabbed the partially used napkin from Ann and unfolded it to be as big as possible.

Holding the napkin gently in front of the cards, blocking everyone from seeing them, Trucy waved her fingers in her other hand while mumbling some mumbo jumbo magic related words. It only took a few seconds, but when she was done, she put the hand that wasn’t holding the napkin in the air as she used her other one to actually pull the napkin away from the cards.

The others let out a variety of oohs and aahs. Phoenix just grinned, and even Sojiro was impressed. Instead of a pile of cards, it was a fully formed tower, completely stable, and no strings holding up the cards anywhere to be seen.

It was at that moment that Trucy heard clapping. She looked at Ryuji who was trying to start a round of applause. Before she could object, the others picked up on what Ryuji wanted to do and clapped as well. Ryuji even ended up whistling.

Only seven people were clapping, but that was enough to get Trucy’s face all red and make her hide behind her hands. Even Sojiro was clapping along, making it eight. Phoenix could only laugh internally.

Once the clapping stopped, Trucy cleared her throat, “Please, this is nothing special. I do a whole lot more impressive stuff in my show.”

Ryuji shouted with excitement, “You have a show?! That’s so cool!”

Trucy was back to embarrassed silence as the others talked around her. First was Yusuke, “Sakamoto is right. That’s pretty impressive, especially for your age.”

Ann was smiling brightly, “Maybe we should come and see it in person at some point.”

Trucy had to interject there, “W-wait! I’m from a different country! Won’t that be a problem?”

Akira waved her off while Futaba spoke for him, “Please, these guys went all the way to _Hawaii,_ I’m sure they’ll figure something out.”

Trucy smiled at this, to which everyone else smiled at her. Sounds like a plan to be made for the future. For the rest of the time they were there, however, they all mindlessly talked about various topics, ranging from the latest movies to arguing about the best way to frost a cupcake.

What stopped their conversations was a clock dinging. They looked over at the one in the cafe.

It read that it was 4 pm.

It occurred to Sojiro that he should turn the TV on. He did, and the first thing it talked about was how the trains were back up and running. This led to Phoenix standing up.

“Welp, that seems to be our cue to go. Thank you for having us over.”

The adults ignored the children’s (mostly playful) whining about how it couldn’t possibly be time for them to leave! They still all said goodbye to Trucy anyway.

Sojiro shook Phoenix’s hand again, “Thank you for coming and spicing up this place again. I think they were starting to get bored with it.”

The others in question were offended. Ryuji even shouting, “we’d never!” after saying his goodbyes.

Trucy and Phoenix rolled their eyes. Both finally stood up and started to head to the doorway when Makoto said one more thing behind them, “Wait! Have Ryuji go with you, I don’t want you guys getting lost, okay?”

As Ryuji stood, Ann came as well, “I’ll come along too! I need to get home that way so I might as well come. My legs need some good old fashioned stretching after sitting down for so long.” Trucy watched as Ryuji and Ann walked closer. She linked her arm with her dad’s and sighed.

“As sad as this departure is, you need all the sleep you can get, daddy! These next few weeks are gonna be long!”

Phoenix chuckled, “You got that right.”

“Oh, if I may ask, how so?”

Phoenix and Trucy looked back at Yusuke when he asked the question. Looking around at the group, it seemed that the others were also out of the loop. Trucy faced the group, serious in her question, “Don’t you know?”

The others were still lost. Makoto was their voice for the time being, “I’m afraid we haven’t. What’s happening?”

Trucy grinned toothily at her dad with a face that screamed ‘tell them, daddy!’ Phoenix sighed and admitted the truth, “The reason we came to Shibuya in the first place is that I agreed to be Yasumi’s lawyer. You know, that ~huge~ case that everyone is apparently talking about.”

The silence that hit them was deafening. It was kind of awkward, someone even cleared their throat. The Wright family couldn’t figure out why, but then Haru told them.

“That’s pretty cool, but... haven’t you heard?” The two shook their heads, “Oh, well, it’s just that, Wakisaka, the prosecutor in the case, has never lost. No offense, nor am I judging your ability, but do you think you’re ready for someone like him?”

Trucy gasped, “Puh-lease! My daddy has taken down _so_ many ‘never have been beaten before’ prosecutors. This will just be another Tuesday for him!”

The group of friends let out a collective sigh at the reassurance. 

On the walk back to the station, Phoenix was off in his head while Trucy just looked around at the night version of the city. It was kind of weird, after all, nighttime seemed to be calmer than the daytime, which both made sense and didn’t. Partway through the trek, Trucy eavesdropped on Ann’s and Ryuji’s conversation (by accident, she swears). They whispered everything.

“Hey, you remember those thugs Trucy mentioned?”

“What? Well, yes, but why bring it up now?”

“Well, not to toot my own horn, but I think one of them was the target that person wanted us to find. You know, the one we couldn’t get to yesterday?”

Ann gasped slightly, “Are you positive?”

“Mmm hmm! It’s perfect, especially now that I know what he looks like!”

“Way to go, Skull. You always do your job even out of the suit.”

Phoenix heard none of that and Trucy was just confused. Before she could ask, they were suddenly at the station.

They all said their final goodbyes, Ryuji and Ann turned around to go to a slightly different station, then, it was off to the hotel for Phoenix and Trucy to get some much-needed sleep. 

However, on the ride home, Trucy listened in on the passengers once more. She did plan on ignoring it, after all, she thought it was going to be about the case, again, which annoyed her last time she listened, but when she started to tune it out, they spoke about something completely different that brought her back.

“Omg! I posted something to the forum, and it was fixed! I can’t believe it!”

“Wait, seriously, the Phantom Thieves actually responded?”

“Yeah! This proves that they’re real!”

“It was already proven they were real. Remember that politician?”

“‘Real’? Ha! Don’t make me laugh, you know it’s just some lame coverup, nothing more!”

“Hey, don’t be a buzzkill! Besides, who are you to judge if a problem has been fixed regardless?!”

“Please! These Phantom Thieves are no more than a child’s dream, a silly fantasy! Get your grip back on reality before you’re taken away too!”

Welp, this was getting heated. Trucy leaned closer to her dad, who let her get close, so she could be as far away from the scene as possible. In her head, she continued to think about what they were saying anyway.

‘Phantom Thieves? Huh, what an odd name…’

\---

Back at the hotel, Phoenix was in his bed, reading a magazine while the TV played softly in the background. His pajamas were a shirt and a pair of pants colored baby blue and had thin vertical white stripes every couple of inches. In the bathroom, Trucy was finishing up brushing her teeth. Her nightgown is dark blue and is adorned with yellow and other bright colored stars.

Spitting out the toothpaste-y water, Trucy looked at her damp, loose hair hanging over her shoulders. She tried putting it up in something that would be good to sleep in _before_ brushing her teeth but stopped when she was getting so mad she almost made the brush disappear.

Still, she didn’t want to sleep like this. It made such horrible tangles! Time for reinforcements. Trucy called out, “Hey, daddy?”

To which she got an equally loud response of, “Yes, honey?”

Trucy got a little nervous before continuing, “Do you remember that bun you used to put my hair up in all the time when I was little?”

Silence. Trucy was going to retract her question, but a calm voice beckoned her to go through with it, “Sure, I’ll help with your hair! Can it just be out here?”

Trucy was already out of the bathroom with a brush, some scrunchies, some bobby pins, and was sitting down on her dad’s bed with them in hand, “Thanks.”

Phoenix had to blink the momentary shock away, “Yeah, no problem.” He took the hair tools from his daughter and got to work. Her hair was already pretty smoothed out, so he didn’t need to do much brushing. When he started pulling it into the bun is when he asked his question, “So, you gonna tell me what’s wrong or are we gonna have another debate in the morning?”

Trucy sputtered, “W-wha- what? What does that mean?” She grinned despite her dad not being able to see it. His cough of disbelief made her give up. Trucy sighed, “Well, the thing is… on the train ride to see Yasumi’s family, I overheard some random people talking about you, and it was awful! They said you had a death wish, or that you might have even had brain damage!”

Phoenix just sighed, not at her, but at the situation, “Yeah, I expected something like that. Don’t worry about them too heavily, Trucy, they never matter in the end anyway.” Phoenix had his daughter’s hair in a bun and was grabbing some bobby pins to place in it.

Trucy listened to her father’s words, grateful for his confidence, but she wasn’t done just yet, “Thanks, daddy, but on the way home, I listened in on them again-” her dad tried to interrupt with something, “-but instead of the case, they started talking about something completely different!”

Phoenix was done with the hair-do and was admiring his hard work, “Oh? Well, what was the topic of conversation, then?”

Trucy inhaled, “They talked about this group… I heard the name “Phantom Thieves’. Do you have any idea who this group is?”

Phoenix was silent, placing his hands on her shoulders before getting serious, “No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them, and I highly doubt we should get mixed with them. If not for our safety, but for time. If they really are real, we certainly have more important things to worry about.”

Trucy wasn’t totally satisfied by that answer, but her dad does have a point. She can drop it for now, “Okay, daddy, thanks for listening. Ooh! And thanks for the hair!”

Trucy felt two big arms circle around her and a face press into the back of her head. She leaned blissfully into the touch as her dad spoke one last time, “No worries, sweetie. Now then, time for bed, missy. Chop chop!” A gentle but firm hand pushed her to a standing position.

Trucy returned with a sarcastic, “Sweet dreams to you as well!” as she walked over and practically leaped into her bed for the night. She must’ve been really tired, as it felt exceptionally soft. Trucy drifted off to dreamland peacefully, unaware of the slight feeling of dread pooling in the bottom of her gut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jsyk this chapter came out much much quicker than other chapters will because i felt the first chapter needed a little more oomph to drag readers in. like, _a lot_ quicker. summer break is starting soon but im planning on getting my first job among other things, so this fic will most likely be updated every month-ish like my other ones. i kinda need to _finish_ p5 as well, cuz i would like this fic to make as much canonical sense as possible. also, ive mapped this out, and i do believe each chapter's length will greatly vary (but who knows just yet). other than that, hooray! everyone has met! where will the story take us next, i wonder? *waggles eyebrows*
> 
> please let me know of any interruptive typos! if you have any criticisms, please give them respectfully!
> 
> lf you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	3. A Romp Around Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a day of rest, we're back in action! We gotta get all the details before we dive face first into court! Besides, sitting around because something _might_ happen again is so not Trucy's style. Just because those thugs made her fear for her life doesn't mean she should stay that way! In fact, she'd rather give them a piece of her mind right about now for attacking her like that in the first place!
> 
> Besides, she's got things to do and people to see! No need to worry about them...

The train shook as they rode it.

Both Phoenix and Trucy sat in silence. Phoenix was thinking about all the possible things and scenarios he could find at this new location, while Trucy’s mind thought about something completely different.

Those thugs from two days ago. Yes, two days. Phoenix decided to stay in the hotel yesterday to recuperate from what happened. Trucy agreed to it, mainly to soothe his nerves. This Shibuya place had turned out to be much more hostile and unfriendly than they imagined.

The thing about the thugs is that only two out of three of them were taken in. The third one somehow managed to slip away. They didn’t get the details on how, but Trucy and Phoenix learned enough to know that the thug was still out there.

Trucy was able to convince her daddy that it was okay to go out, but she herself was unsure about it, and not for the reasons you would think. To be honest, she has no idea why she froze up like that! She’s been in scarier situations, ones where her life was threatened even more than once! She just doesn’t get it, okay?

But what she does get, however, is how she’s determined to not let it happen again. She’s Trucy Wright! She’s not going to let some low life thugs be the end of her!

Not again, at least...

“Hey, sweetie, we’ve arrived.”

Squishing her face by lightly slapping both her cheeks with her hands at the same time, Trucy stood up and followed her dad out of the train. 

She put on her biggest smile. She was ready to face the day.

She hopes.

\---

“Hey, Trucy, can we stop in here for a moment? I need to get some things for the hotel room.”

Trucy looked up from her feet to see that her father was pointing at a convenience store, “Oh, sure, I wouldn’t mind getting some things too.”

As they walked in, Trucy went back to her previous train of thought.

Her daddy was able to find what he needed from the place they investigated, yes, but that didn’t erase the fact that it was a lot harder than normal. The scene of the crime felt off. Certain things were placed in ways Trucy couldn’t help but feel that they were… what’s the word?

‘Fabricated’? Possibly? She’s not entirely sure, but she knows what she felt, and that ‘crime scene’ felt a little too ‘clean’ to be classified as a crime scene. Phoenix felt it too, it’s what he told Trucy when she brought it up, but alas, Phoenix came up with an explanation that soothed their thoughts for now.

“Maybe the police force here likes to keep things tidy enough to get around. I know it’s difficult, considering who we are, but we can’t just assume foul play right out of the get-go, you know? Nobody even really knows who ‘Phoenix Wright’ is here, so it’s hard to back it up anyway.”

Trucy left it at that. It still didn’t get rid of her doubts completely, but she did feel better.

Now they were here, walking into some random convenience store to buy things to stock up the cabinets at their hotel. Trucy was mindlessly roaming the candy and chip aisle while her dad looked around at the drinks in the fridge. Trucy picked out a simple bag of normal chips when a voice caught her ear.

“Oh thank you so much for the help, young man.”

Peeking her head over the aisle wall, she let out a happy gasp when her eyes landed on a familiar mop of black hair and pair of glasses. Grabbing two random bags of candy, she bounded around to go see her friend.

“Akira, it’s so good to see you again!” Trucy stopped right next to him. He was currently restocking cups in the cup dispensers that people use at the soda fountains. Akira looked up from his job momentarily to see who was beckoning him, then grinned when he saw who it was.

Trucy put her hands behind her back and was bouncing up and down in one place, “Man, this is an incredible coincidence. Daddy and I decided to come here after finishing up an investigation for the case to get some things, and I had not expected you to be here as well! Have you worked here for a while?”

Akira just nodded his head as he put more cups into the dispenser.

Trucy let out a hearty ‘ooh’, “That’s so cool! Who were you talking to?”

Akira just raised an eyebrow before pointing at a random lady who was now waiting in line to pay for her stuff.

Trucy thought about what that meant, before realizing, “Oh, were you helping her find something?”

Akira rapidly tilted his hand over and over again in that ‘so-so’ motion. 

Trucy let out a ‘hmm’ and put her hand on her chin. That’s when it hit her, “Oh, I know! You helped her pick out a drink size! It makes sense since you’re restocking cups, right?”

Akira gave her a big thumbs up, to which she responded by clapping quietly to give herself a self-earned victory. She was proud of herself for that one! Then, a new voice came up behind them.

“Alright, seems like I have every- oh! I didn’t expect to see you here, Kurusu.”

Both Trucy and Akira turned around to see Phoenix walking towards him. Akira nodded again while Trucy went to her father and draped her arm around his shoulders, “Who would’ve thought Akira worked here, daddy?”

Phoenix looked back from his daughter to Akira, “I certainly didn’t. Glad to see you again so soon, Akira. Seems like you’ve landed yourself a nice job here.”

Akira smiled at the two of them. The three were having fun reconnecting, and Phoenix was going to ask another question, but a voice from behind the counter kind of yelled at them, interrupting their moment.

“Kurusu, I’m glad to see you have friends, but please don’t slack off too much! I need some help at the register again!”

The three friends laughed nervously before listening to the person’s words. When Phoenix and Trucy got to the register, Akira was the one to ring them up. They said a few last words to the silent boy before waving goodbye and leaving the store, bags of goodies in hand. Once they got outside, Phoenix had to take a call from someone (probably Athena, or maybe even Maya), so Trucy was just left to stand there until he was done.

Trucy was aimlessly looking around when her eyes landed on someone sitting on a box half-a-block away. To others, the guy would seem like your typical homeless hobo on the streets, but Trucy knew better. She recognized the build on that body.

It was the thug that got away.

Trucy stood up to her full height and started striding toward him in anger, “Hey! You there!”

The man in question froze instantaneously. At first, he was completely still in fear, but when he heard her getting closer, he stood up quickly, knocking over the box he was on and started hightailing it out of there. Looks like the crook is still trying to escape his crimes.

Trucy took no time to start running after him. Unfortunately for Phoenix, it took him a few seconds too long to see what she was doing, partly because he just finished hanging up on who he had to call.

“Trucy, what are you doing?! Wait, is that- hold on! Trucy! Don’t just run after crimi-”

His voice trailed off as Trucy kept running. 

This thug got away once, and that’s the most she’ll let it happen.

\---

“Hey! I know who you are! Get back here!”

Rounding the corner to stand at the entrance to the alleyway, Trucy- and Phoenix, who caught up a few seconds later, trying to catch his breath- were completely caught off guard when the thug shrieked and cowered in fear as if Trucy and her dad were going to _murder_ him.

“I’m s-so so sorry! Please, what I did was wrong, I know that! In fact, I was j-just going to go turn myself in r-right now! I’m sorry, please just let me-”

Both Trucy and Phoenix looked down at the man with discontent as he seemed to ramble on forever and ever. What in the world was he doing? Phoenix cleared his throat and talked for his daughter, “Okay… if you really feel that way, can my daughter and I walk you over to the nearest cop?-”

The man stood back up and nearly grabbed Phoenix’s hand to shake it, “Yes, please! Take me in!”

Still not getting any less weird, dude. 

It took no time at all for them to take the man to the nearest police officer, who was just as confused as they were when the thug practically sobbed all of his greatest sins away to him. The cop thanked Trucy and Phoenix as he handcuffed the thug and walked away, probably with the intent to go look at the security cam footage of what they talked about.

Alright, now since that’s taken care of, “ _Trucy,_ what in the world were you thinking?!”

Trucy didn’t know what her dad was getting at, “What? Daddy, you know we had to get him turned in, right?”

Phoenix wasn’t any calmer, “I know, but there are a lot of safer ways to turn in a criminal! Ones that don’t involve blindly chasing after him!”

Trucy was getting offended, “How else were we gonna get him?! If he was allowed to roam any longer, who knows who else he would’ve been able to hurt or even kill!”

Phoenix was exasperated, “Trucy, that’s not the point of this argument and you know it.”

Trucy crossed her arms, “Still! If it was properly handled when they tried to hurt me, they wouldn’t have been able to get away and potentially cause more trouble! That’s why I ran after him! So he could finally be taken in!”

Phoenix was going to retort, again, but he was able to pick up on Trucy’s real reasoning. It was mostly from her body language, really, “Oh, I see… Trucy, there wasn’t a whole lot you could’ve done against them-”

Trucy uncrossed her arms. She was still angry, but now it was more directed at herself, “You know I’ve handled worse! Remember the hostage situation? My life was in the same amount of danger and I didn’t freak out during that!”

Phoenix approached his daughter calmly so he could get his arms around her, “Shh, shh, I know, I know, sweetie, but this was a whole lot different than that.”

Trucy puffed up her cheeks to pout, but relented a little when she softly hugged her dad back, putting her head on his chest, “And how’s that, exactly?”

Phoenix ‘hmm’ed as he rocked her back and forth, “Well, first of all, this is a place neither of us has been, so the unfamiliar area didn’t help. Plus, during the hostage situation, you weren’t the only one in danger. I’m pretty sure you were scared back then, but you had something else to focus on- helping the others stay calm- which helped you, no doubt. Also, regardless of what you’ve been through before, you’re allowed to be scared or weak sometimes.”

Trucy pondered her dad’s words, “I guess…” She moved her head so her chin could rest on his shoulder, and squeezed a little tighter, “Thanks, daddy. You always know what to say.”

Phoenix smiled, “Well, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be good at my job, would I?” The two stood like that for a little bit longer, basking in the silence, before a light-bulb hit Phoenix, “You know, walking past the movie theater I saw a cheap rom-com action flick I think you would like.”

Trucy shot out of her dad’s arms and had the biggest grin, “You had me at the mention of a movie theater, daddy!”

\---

The movie was good, really good.

Trucy cried like she always does at movies like these, she has no shame in admitting that, but her daddy, on the other hand, keeps dodging the question. It was first thinly veiled attempts of ‘explaining’, but then it went straight into a debate like one with a lawyer would be akin to. 

It was something he was too good at, sometimes.

“I’m pretty sure you saw things with tears clouding your vision.”

“Please, honey, I don’t cry over things like these. That’s not to say you can’t, though.”

“Well, maybe I _did_ cry, but do you have any proof you can show to others that I did?”

“Innocent until proven guilty, baby girl.”

Trucy groaned. It was so unfair having arguments with him.

Before she could start again, both hers and her dad’s stomachs rumbled with hunger loudly. That shut them up. 

The realization that one is starving was a force to be reckoned with.

Phoenix sighed, “Maybe going to a movie instead of eating was a mistake on my part. Popcorn certainly doesn’t have enough nutritional value to last.”

Trucy giggled, “I suppose I’ll agree with you on that, despite how good popcorn is. Oh, I know! There was a beef bowl shop around here, what about that?”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. Nice job, sweetie.” Trucy linked her arm with her dad’s as the pair walked out of the theater to go find the restaurant. It took a little longer than expected, but eventually, they found it and walked in. They sat down and waited to be served.

Phoenix picked up a menu and started reading, “Hmm, there aren’t that many choices to pick from. Regardless, I think I know what I want.”

Trucy put down her menu at the same time her dad did, “Well, to be fair, it’s a small space with a lot of people. The workers might actually die if they had to worry about more than four or five different kinds of meals they would have to potentially make.”

Phoenix chuckled at her reasoning, “That’s fair.”

Shortly after their conversation, the person behind the counter finally came up to take their order. Poor kid, he was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Does he deal with this every night? Phoenix was about to place his order, but Trucy gasped and interrupted him, “It’s you! Again!”

Phoenix finally looked at the waiter closer and saw that, yes, it was him again. Does Akira always get around like this? “Oh, well, hello again. I would start the chit-chat, but it looks like you have a busy lineup to get through.”

Akira nodded his head quickly in relief. Thankfully, they understood. The two family members placed their orders and let Akira run off to go back to his hectic job. After a little bit, the quiet teen brought their food out just like they ordered. The father and daughter would talk about random things while they ate.

Eventually, halfway through their food, Akira would come up to them trying to catch his breath. Seems like things have calmed down, at least for now. Akira was washing dishes when Phoenix started small talk.

“You know, seeing you in two places at once on the same day is weird. Do you have some twin, potentially evil, that we’re not aware of?” Phoenix cheekily grinned. Akira just rolled his eyes.

Trucy giggled, “Certainly wouldn’t be the first time that one person turned out to be two!”

Phoenix remembered, “Oh, right, I always forget about those two troupe members of yours.” As Trucy nodded, Akira just raised his eyebrow in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Sounds like these two have stories of their own.

Akira was on the next set of dishes when Phoenix changed the subject, “But on a more serious note: Akira, is there any specific reason you work multiple part-time jobs?”

The boy in question just shrugged as he placed another plate in the rack of clean dishes. Trucy answered for him, “Clearly he knows what he’s doing, daddy. Who can blame a guy for wanting a little extra cash anyway?”

Phoenix just shrugged, “I suppose. In the meantime, Akira, I believed you vaguely mentioned you wanted to see my sign language in the cafe two nights ago?”

Akira froze slightly before letting the biggest grin overtake his face. One of his favorite things to do is silently judge his other friends’ sign language. They were good at it, but that didn’t mean they didn’t mess up every once in a while.

Trucy could barely hold back her laughter every time Akira shook his head no at one of her daddy’s attempts. Her daddy was very good at reading, but actually making the movements, well…

“Really? I thought that was my best one!”

Akira rolled his eyes playfully. He pointed at his own eyes to show that Phoenix should be watching himself more than the other person. Phoenix grumbled as Akira got ready to sign another statement. After shaking and waving his hands around, he waited for Phoenix to respond.

Phoenix got it right away, “You essentially said ‘I am 20-years-old’, correct?”

Akira nodded in pride. Trucy applauded for her daddy as he just grinned in satisfaction, “Alright, I’m still good on the reading part. Here, let me just try ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’.”

Phoenix carefully shook his hands. Once he was done, he thought he did pretty well, but when he looked back up at Akira, he just got a look full of confusion on the younger man’s face. 

Phoenix grumbled again, “Alright, you don’t have to be that harsh about it! At least I’m- you tell me to use my eyes one more time I’m gonna smack you. I got it the first time you told me!”

Trucy couldn’t hold her laughter back that time. Even Akira silently laughed at it.

Phoenix eventually excused himself to go to the bathroom. He and Trucy had a bumpy train ride on the way back to their hotel, so he’d rather do it here than hold it in all the way through that. That left Trucy and Akira to sit there in awkward silence,

Trucy was stirring the leftover food around in her bowl nervously, “So… I’m sorry if this is rude, but, may I ask, why you don’t talk? Were you born mute?”

Akira stopped wiping the plate he was cleaning momentarily. Oops, Trucy shouldn’t have asked. She was going to apologize, but then Akira caught her off guard with what he did next as he started to slowly clean the plate again.

“Things… happened, and it made me realize that talking isn’t always the best option.”

His voice was somewhat raspy, but he seemed to be able to talk okay. He probably talks more than what he lets on, but that begs the question: _when_ does he talk then? Along with that, what in the world did he mean by _that?_

Oh, yeah, Akira also _talked._ Trucy took a second to gather her words, “O-oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Akira just shrugged his shoulders as he wiped down a wet bowl with a drying towel. From there on out, the two rambled on over random things. It was mostly Trucy talking to Akira, who made certain movements or expressions to signify he was listening. Believe it or not, Trucy always picked up on what he meant.

Eventually, Phoenix came back out and both him and Trucy said their goodbyes. As they walked out of the restaurant, Trucy made one last wave to Akira as the doors shut. He also waved back. The last thing Trucy saw was a serene smile on his face.

The train ride back to their hotel felt both incredibly short and incredibly long at the same time. Nothing bad happened, it wasn’t even awkward all things considered, but Trucy couldn’t stop thinking about what Akira meant.

_Talking isn’t always the best option…_ That statement could mean a lot of things. Didn’t help that it was already cryptic enough as it is by itself. Even when she said goodnight to her dad, who quickly fell asleep and started snoring shortly after he told her the same thing, she couldn’t get it out of her mind.

As she went to dreamland, she thought about what she could do to learn more about these people. By ‘people’ she meant Akira and everyone else at the cafe that they hung out with. At this point, she’s only known about their existence for a total of three days, yet they’ve made her so intrigued about them by just saying a few oddball-ish things.

She should find a way to keep in contact, but not tonight. This bed is way too comfortable to do anything else but sleep in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another one out quickly! this chap is mainly filler and kind of short compared to the others (at least i think/hope it will be) so i was able to get it done! still no promise on a definitive update schedule tho, my muse for writing kinda flicks on and off whenever it wants so be warned for that
> 
> also, just as an fyi: please let me know if im doing these characters justice! i don't want to go halfway through this fic and randomly get told out of the blue that ive been characterizing them wrong >n<
> 
> let me know of any typos that prevent you from reading! if you wish to give criticism, please do so respectfully!
> 
> lf you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	4. Close Calls in Court

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day in the court! Outside of the different environment, this doesn't feel that much different. Daddy is coming up with last minute back up plans, the prosecution is rather self-absorbed, and the witnesses are as kooky and weird as they always are! Hopefully, daddy can figure something out fast.
> 
> On that note, hopefully, we're not the only ones cheering for ourselves either...

The courthouse was _loud._

Not the normal kind of loud either. It was currently a few days after they met Akira in the restaurant, and it was time for the first day of the actual court case. People seemed to be ‘whispering’ to each other about everything, some even spreading rumors about her daddy. The others, who weren’t even trying to mask their jerk-ishness, were trying to ask daddy a bunch of ‘invasive questions’ as he called it.

If she weren’t such a nice person she would’ve smacked them all.

Phoenix sighed as they were finally able to free themselves from the hoards of mindless journalists, ending up in the room set up for them to prepare for the case, “Sheesh, let me know if they try any of that with you Trucy, I certainly won’t allow it.”

Trucy sighed, “They shouldn’t try it with you either.”

Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, I’m not too happy, but I kind of expected this to happen. Don’t worry, baby girl, this will all eventually blow over.”

Trucy crossed her arms, “It better unless everyone out there wants their wallets to magically disappear!”

Outside the entrance to their room, the place got even _louder_ (was that even possible?) with the screeches of many females.

Blinking at one another, Trucy and Phoenix agreed without words to go and peak out the door to see what the heck was up. Each had one eye peering out, and those respective eyes landed on one expensive sunglasses-wearing man. He took them off to reveal bright, amber eyes.

“Oh my god, Wakisaka!” 

“He’s here, I can’t believe he’s here!” 

“Wakisaka, please sign my journal!”

Ah, so that was the famous prosecutor. Trucy thought he was underwhelming. He had a skin tone akin to Klavier, and his hair was tied up in a half ponytail with the upper half in a bun. The other half flowed freely down past his shoulders by a few inches. That half was also wavy and pitch black, while the top of his head and bun were bleached. He also had an upside-down triangle shaped goatee, with the left side being the same black as his hair and the right bleached just like his hair as well.

Really? This is who everyone freaks out over? He looks like he sells underbaked cookies to unsuspecting people and _enjoys_ it. He looks like he’s a Grade A meanie, one that was _walking over to their room-_

Oh, so they shared this secluded area, was the thought that crossed both Trucy and Phoenix’s mind as they leaped away from the door just in time. He walked in shortly after, letting out a deep, annoyed sigh as he put his sunglasses in their case. That was when he noticed the two other humans standing stiffly in the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. My name is Wakisaka Niou, I’m pleased to meet you.” The man stuck his hand out to be shaken. His other hand held onto his sunglasses case.

Phoenix blinked before clearing his throat, “Oh, yes! It’s nice to meet you as well, Prosecutor Wakisaka. I’m Phoenix Wright.” He shook Niou’s hand and smiled sincerely. He was interested in learning what this man was like.

Wakisaka released and sighed again, “I hope you’re not thinking I’ll go easy on you. I have a job I need to perform, after all.” His smile was tight.

Phoenix’s, however, was not, “I never expected you too, Mr. Niou. I hope you bring your best like I’ll bring mine.”

Wakisaka curtly nodded his head as he walked past Phoenix. Right as he got to the door to the actual courtroom (this room led directly into it) and put his hand on the doorknob, he finally registered that Phoenix wasn’t the only other stranger in the room, “Oh, hello there!” He directed at Trucy, “Who might you be, little girl?”

Trucy’s eyes momentarily widened when her daddy responded for her. His smile hid a faint sense of anger behind it, “This is my daughter. She’s here to give me support. I was about to send her out to the stands, in fact.”

The hand with the sunglasses case was raised above Wakisaka’s head in defense, in a way that said, ‘whoah man, calm down,’ “Hey, that’s cool. My family would’ve been here too, but something came up. They plan to be here later in the case, though.” And with that, he left the room.

Both Wrights left out huge sighs of relief. Phoenix quickly placed his hand on Trucy’s shoulder and smiled, to which she smiled back. Smoothing back his hair, Phoenix walked over to the door much like Wakisaka. He even stopped like the prosecutor did, “Can you make it to the stands, sweetheart?”

Trucy took a moment to register his words, “Oh, yeah! I know where they are. Good luck, daddy. I know you’ll do great.” The father and daughter waved goodbye to each other. He entered the courtroom, and she did too, but she first went through the lobby, then stepped over a bunch of knees to get to an open seat and sat down.

“Good luck, daddy,” Trucy said, this time to herself. She watched as her dad was standing with confidence, hiding his panic like he always does. Across the room was Wakisaka, who seemed to be eyeing himself in a pocket mirror. After a few long and drawn out moments, the judge finally walked in and sat down, ready to hear the truth and nothing but the truth.

“Is the defense ready?”

“The defense is ready, your Honor.”

“Is the prosecution ready?”

“You better believe it.”

“Then let the case of Yasumi Tanosuke begin.” The gravel slammed down. 

Trucy crossed her fingers.

\---

“And that’s why, your Honor, this witness’ testimony is complete phony!”

Trucy sighed. She was currently sitting on a bench in the lobby area while her daddy cleaned all of his stuff up. They weren’t in the clear yet, but daddy was able to keep the case going with the simple fact that _one of the witnesses was on vacation out of the country during the murder._

Why the prosecutors even brought them as a witness in the first place was something Trucy would probably never figure out. Granted, many of daddy’s cases were already mind-boggling by themselves, but really? A key witness who wasn’t even there at the murder?

One they almost considered a _valid_ witness?

It was nerve-wracking. It also wasn’t made any better by the fact that they were even going to call Guilty on the situation already! With a witness that wasn’t even a witness no less! Trucy was so worried that they would go home immediately! She didn’t want that! Especially not after everything!

“Alright, everything is in order, sweetie. Let’s head back to the hotel.”

Trucy leaped up instantaneously and hugged Phoenix, “Great job, daddy! I knew you could do it!”

Phoenix hugged her back, “Of course I could. You know me.”

The two leaned back and stayed in each other’s arms when Trucy’s face quickly adopted a rather guilty look, “To be honest, I wasn’t that positive you were going to win the _entire_ time.”

Phoenix sighed as he moved his hands from around her waist to her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes, “Well, if _I’m_ to be honest, neither was I.” Trucy gasped, “You’re right about this being fishy, but we shouldn’t jump the gun just yet. There’s clearly something going on behind the scenes, but if we come out with that right away, many things can go badly for more than one reason. We need to wait and play our cards right, okay?”

Trucy nodded her head rapidly. Play it safe and wait to strike. The Wrights were always good at that.

“Mr. Wright! Hello!”

The two family members looked at the voice. Oh! It was the defendant’s mother, who wanted to give her utmost gratitude to Phoenix for what he did today. Phoenix, being Phoenix, waved her off and gave the same old ‘it’s just my job’ spiel. Eventually, the rest of Tanosuke’s family joined the conversation. 

They and her daddy were chatting up a storm as they all walked out of the courthouse. Trucy just joyfully listened on, happy that Tanosuke’s family looked happier and less anxious-filled than before. Clearly, they saw the potential that her daddy had.

Then she felt a chill roll down her spine.

They stopped walking for a moment to say their goodbyes for the day, so that gave Trucy the opportunity to turn around and see what caused the room to drop 50 degrees. Her eyes landed on Wakisaka. 

He was glaring at her group (who he probably knew weren’t looking at him) like they murdered a bunch of puppies. 

Trucy’s eyes filled with a feeling of minute fear.

Phoenix had just said goodbye to the family and linked his arm in hers. She smiled at him and lost her look of fear when he grinned and asked, “Ready to go?” as if seemingly nothing was wrong. The two left the courthouse with many things running through their heads, but there was one thing that only Trucy thought about.

What in the world was that?

\---

Trucy fiddled with her braid while Phoenix tidied up a few more papers on the hotel desk. The TV was playing some cliche ‘a handful of jerkfaces live in the same house for a year’ drama show that neither of them cared for, really, but neither of them was really watching it.

Trucy threw her braid back over her shoulder in exasperation, “Are we _sure_ we’ll be able to find out what’s really happening? Even then, can we _prove_ it?”

Phoenix looked down at the now tidied up desk, “Even if it takes a long time, we’ll figure out a way to come out on top. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.”

Trucy now fiddled with the bedsheet at her legs, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but it’s just… weird, and stupid. I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I, sugar plum.” Phoenix quickly walked over to her and gave the side of Trucy’s head a smooch while keeping a hand on her back, “Well, whatever happens, I’m pretty sure the case will last longer than three days.”

Trucy leaned into her dad’s touch, “Really, that can happen?”

Phoenix’s hand that was on his daughter’s back rubbed up and down for a little bit, “Considering the next day in court is scheduled for another time other than the immediate day after it, yeah. Also, we are in a different country. We’ve certainly had weirder cultures surrounding the court system.”

Trucy smiled, “Yeah, I suppose killing your lawyer along with the defendant is pretty wack.”

Phoenix smiled back. Phoenix got up and went to his bed. While crawling under his covers, he let out one last, heartfelt, “G’night, sweetie”

“Night, daddy.”

As the TV played quietly in the background, and as Phoenix’s snores got louder, Trucy decided to mindlessly scroll through her phone. She felt unsure, but what was causing that feeling was unbeknownst to her at the moment. Was it the case like she thought? Was it just normal anxiety? Or maybe was it the homesickness she keeps denying that she has?

Well, whatever it was, a message on her phone caused her to stop thinking about it.

_**???????:** *hacker voice* im in_

Trucy had to blink a few times before she realized, oh, wait, a random number really did contact her. Peering over her shoulder, she made sure to see and hear that her dad was sleeping and that her phone really was on silent before she looked back to the screen and responded.

_**Trucy W:** Um… who are you?_

It took no time for the other number to reply.

_**???????:** *whispers* i am the night_

_**Trucy W:** … Is there a reason for this or are you another scammer I need to block_

_**???????:** WAIT WAIT! sorry, just wanted to have a little fun_

_**???????:** its me! Futaba!_

Ohhh, that explains some things.

_**Trucy W:** Oh! Well, why didn’t you say that right off the bat?_

_**Futaba S:** not as fun in my opinion_

_**Futaba S:** anyways! i just wanted to see if i could keep in contact!_

_**Trucy W:** I’m assuming you found the answer to be ‘yes’, correct?_

_**Futaba S:** 100% - im happy about it too! youre a cool person_

_**Trucy W:** Aww, thank you! I try my best_

_**Futaba S:** btw, i didnt just want to ask about you, i also wanted to ask about the case!_

Trucy raised an eyebrow.

_**Trucy W:** Really? What about it, then?_

_**Futaba S:** we all were watching it in the cafe! was it actually that close?_

Trucy grimaced a little.

_**Trucy W:** Yeah, a little, but daddy pulled through like he always does!_

_**Futaba S:** no kidding. youre dad is pretty cool_

_**Trucy W:** Yeah… _

_**Trucy W:** You know, I don’t know where I’d be without him sometimes..._

This time, Futaba took a little bit longer to respond.

_**Futaba S:** if its any consolation, i kinda feel the same way_

Now both of Trucy’s eyebrows raised. Futaba wasn’t done, though.

_**Futaba S:** long story extremely short... i wasnt in a good place for awhile_

_**Futaba S:** until i met akira and the others, he was all i had to fall back on_

_**Futaba S:** and i dont know if anything ill ever do can repay him for that_

Trucy had her thumbs hover over her screen, but she didn’t type anything. How could she? That was kind of deep, and Trucy felt it would be weird to comfort someone she just met, regardless of how much they liked each other. Thankfully, Futaba probably realized and lightened the mood.

_**Futaba S:** i will say the dad jokes were overbearing however. never got tired of them_

Trucy snorted.

_**Trucy W:** Yeah, I feel you on that one_

_**Futaba S:** ‘hi hungry, im dad’ hi dad iM GONNA STARVE IF YOU DONT HURRY UP_

Trucy nearly burst out laughing but kept it to barely restrained giggles instead. Wiping away a few tears of happiness, Trucy went back to the conversation.

_**Trucy W:** Man, we really need to keep in contact with one another after all of this_

_**Futaba S:** don’t worry! me and my pals are working on it! _

_**Trucy W:** What a pleasant surprise! Thanks, Futaba, I probably should go to bed now_

_**Futaba S:** ditto! goodnight to you as well_

Putting her phone down and turning over to go to sleep, Trucy felt better than before the conversation. In fact, she felt _way_ better. That impromptu conversation helped a lot, and it reinforced her feelings that she and daddy needed to find a way to keep in contact with that group.

It’s a plus that Futaba and the others feel just the same way.

She slept with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy pride month to every one of you lovely readers! i hope your summer has been amazing! i have not touched this in a hot minute and i apologize for that. my muse is like a fire and one thats slowly dying but im keeping that last flicker alive even if it kills me! on a lighter note, guess whose sorry ass got their first job!!! your boi is moving up in the world. other than that, hope you enjoy what is a rather normal update ;) 
> 
> hope everyone can picture Wakisaka as good as i can lmao. villains in both persona and ace attorney are wacky as heck- sort of like build-a-bear and the fallout character creator had a baby sometimes- and i kinda wanted to recreate that with him! 
> 
> please feel free to tell me about glaring typos! criticism is okay as long as its given respectfully~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	5. Cleaning Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aww, daddy had to leave while I was asleep! That's too bad. Hey, maybe to get my mind off of it, I can clean up this place! We haven't really had time to, so now's the perfect time to work on some things we should have when we first got here!
> 
> Hopefully, nothing else too big or serious comes up that daddy can't handle.

Trucy woke up with a yawn and a stretch, putting her arms above her head and everything. Her hair was kind of messy with a couple of strands sticking out here and there, some even sticking to her face. She licked the top of her mouth since it was so dry. Blearily looking over to the other bed in the room, she noticed that it was empty.

Okay, panic just a little, but not too much yet. Removing her covers, her feet pitter-pattered against the ground as she slowly walked around the room, trying to figure out where her dad went. Right before she thought she could fully panic, she noticed a note on his desk. It was addressed to her.

_I was invited out to the residence early in the morning. Sorry for leaving you. Probably won’t be able to call. All I ask is that you stay in the hotel until I get back. Sorry again. Love you lots <3_

Ah, so that’s what happened. Trucy raised her eyebrows in comprehension. That’s fine. She can handle a day cooped up. She’s actually been wanting that since yesterday after everything. She was kind of hoping to be with daddy, but he’ll be back soon enough.

Besides, any anxiety she’s feeling right now will go away once she decides to do something! There are a lot of things that need to be done. As a win-win scenario, she’s going to do them all right now, not only to finish them but also so she can surprise daddy when he gets back!

She quickly got ready for the day, sat down at the desk and began making a list. It only took a few minutes, but she eventually had a bunch of chores to do.

**~~1\. Make a List of Things To Do~~**  
**2\. Organize Desk for Daddy**  
**3\. Clean Up Dirty Clothes**  
**4\. Get Room Ready for Room Service**  
**5\. Practice Magic**  
**6\. See What’s on the TV**  
**7\. Make List of Good and Bad Channels on TV**  


Perfect! 

Trucy smiled at the paper in her hands. Standing up, she looked around the place with her hands on her hips. Seeing just how messy it was, she thought that she may have gotten in over her head just a little. When they’re busy, they really don’t do anything to clean their surroundings unless they have to. That fact was very clear based on their hotel room...

She then squished her face between her hands. She was a Wright! There was no such thing as ‘getting in over your head’ in this household! The quicker she started, the quicker she could judge this establishment’s taste in cable television!

Time to get to it!

\---

The first thing to do: fix up daddy’s desk.

Both of them have a terrible habit of letting things pile on top of their desk until they just can’t handle it anymore. Since she has time now, she’s going to prevent that from happening! At least, this one time. Getting over to the desk, she checked over the papers.

Her first plan was to alphabetize them, but seeing what was in each of them, she decided that she should choose another way to categorize them. First, the papers were split into two categories: ones from here and ones from home. She thought the new papers from here would be a rather small pile, but it actually holds up fairly well to the pile of papers from home.

The ones from here would be placed on the left of the desk while the ones from home would be put on the right. Alright, time to create subcategories. First, the papers from home. They seem to fall into two basic ones: lawyer stuff and not lawyer stuff. Okay, good. The lawyer stuff was placed in the top right corner and the not-lawyer stuff (mainly old faxes or even taxes, hehe) in the bottom one.

Next, the papers from here. They also fell into two categories: papers about the family/case and liability stuff. The case papers were put in the top left corner, and the papers that stripped certain people of any fault were placed in the bottom. Looking over the desk, Trucy was satisfied. With writing utensils placed in the middle, each corner of the desk was filled with a stack of papers about an eighth of an inch thick.

She pulled out her list and a pen.

**~~2\. Organize Desk for Daddy~~ **

Alrighty! On to the next step.

\---

Piles and piles of clothes littered the room, was Trucy’s next thought.

They haven’t set up a system for dirty clothes, but Trucy knows enough about her daddy to make one that will satisfy both of them. She’ll do her clothes first, however, since she knows _exactly_ what she likes. She grabbed every piece of dirty laundry of hers she could find and walked over to her bed.

She folded all the shirts, pants, socks, and bras in piles of themselves, laying them out separately. She took the separate piles and placed them on the ground to the right of the cabinet with the TV. She placed them in the shape of the square with the shirts in the top left, her pants in the top right, her socks in the bottom left and finished it off by placing her bras in the bottom right. She stood up straight and looked down at her hard work. 

Time to do something similar to daddy’s clothes!

She grabbed all that she could see and placed them down on the bed. This time she folded piles of dress shirts, dress pants, boxers, bigger socks, and overcoats. She knew about his ties but felt they didn’t need to be collected. This time she went to the left of the TV. She created a formation that was practically the same to the right side. The only difference was that the top left corner of the square was made of shirts, the bottom left were his pants, the top right was his socks and the bottom right was his boxers. She also placed his overcoats on top of all the other clothes.

Ta-da! Trucy pulled her list back out and crossed out this step with her trusty pen.

**~~3\. Clean Up Dirty Clothes~~ **

Now that that’s taken care of, the next part should follow a similar process.

\---

It was a moral rule they had that if the room service was good, they would do everything they could to help out.

As it turns out, this room service is, in fact, really good. Trucy knows everything they do for this step-by-step process, so the sooner she starts, the better. She first needs to strip the bed. She would’ve stripped both, but she needs one of them for later. Folding the bedsheets nicely, she laid them down at the end of the now sheetless bed. She did the same thing for the pillow covers.

Next was miscellaneous trash around the room. They were, at the very least, good at keeping that clean, but sometimes things slipped through the cracks even for them. She ended up putting a handful of wrappers in the trash and recycling one singular water bottle. The last part of this whole shebang is the bathroom, which is where she was standing now.

She found the damp/wet towels and threw the dampest ones over the shower rack holding the curtain. The dryer ones were folded like the bedsheets and set on the counter next to the sink. She got a blank piece of paper and wrote ‘these need to be replaced as well! :)’ on it. She gently set the note on top of the folded towels.

Walking out of the bathroom, she recounted everything she did in her head and was content with what she remembered. She grabbed her now pretty crumpled list and crossed out yet another thing on it.

**~~4\. Get Room Ready for Room Service~~ **

Now that she’s cleaned the room, she’ll need to do the next step carefully.

\---

Back on the non-stripped bed, she had a deck of cards in her hand.

She’s been meaning to work on this trick for a while, and now she finally has the time. The top of a bed isn’t the best flat surface, but it was comfy as heck so she ignored that fact for now. Spreading out the cards in an arch formation, she stared at them intently.

Any person outside herself or her family would think she’s crazy for staring so hard at cards not doing anything. They were doing something, however, to Trucy. She had to keep 100% focus on this or her practice would be for nothing. All of a sudden, she swiped her hand over the cards, throwing them every which-a-way. Then, hyper-focusing one last time, she grabbed a random one from the mess.

Flipping it over to see what it was, she let out a loud cheer seeing that she was right! She grabbed all of the strewn-about cards and shuffled them. She put them in their arch formation and started staring once again.

She would do this for the next half-hour five more times. Feeling vertigo from staring at the same object for so long, Trucy decided to stop. She grabbed her list and crossed out the next thing just like before.

**~~5\. Practice Magic~~ **

Now that all that’s done, time for the fun part! She stacked the cards neatly, put them back in the box, and set them on the table at the head of the beds. Getting up, she went to their cabinet full of snacks next to their fridge. On her way back to the bed, she grabbed the TV remote in front of the TV.

\---

Sitting down on the bed with a bowl of chips and a bottle of water, Trucy gripped the TV remote and hit the On button. The TV took a moment to start, but once it did, Trucy had to turn down the volume. Apparently, the people who last used this room had no consideration for the other people in the building.

The channel the TV turned wasn’t that good either. Skip.

… This one isn’t too bad, but it’s not their favorite.

Ew, this one was worse than the first one!

Bingo! A channel that’s easily in their Top Three channels. Score!

Another average channel...

After nearly an hour of channel surfing, Trucy made it back to the beginning. Nodding her head for no one else other than herself, she pulled out her list and crossed off one more thing.

**~~6\. See What’s on the TV~~ **

Alright, time to test her memory. Pulling out a different piece of paper- one that was blank- she wrote down the channel number the TV was currently on. There’s usually a TV channel guide in places like this, but alas, they picked the one room without it.

\---

Turning the TV off, Trucy yawned as she looked over all of her hard work. The room was clean, clothes were folded and out of the way, and she even got to find all the channels she and daddy liked on the TV. Today was a very work-filled day, and she hopes it paid off. She finally crossed the final thing off her list.

**~~7\. Make List of Good and Bad Channels on TV~~ **

She yawned once again. Huh, guess that stuff wiped her our more than she expected it to. Well, considering she has nothing else to while she waits for daddy to get back outside of watching the TV some more, she thinks she’ll take a nap. She deserves it after all.

Getting under the covers, Trucy gently plopped her head down on the pillow. As she went back to dreamland, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat funny. ‘Stomach aches are a symptom of too much anxiety sometimes,’ she hears Apollo tell her in the back of her mind.

Too tired to think about it any longer, she finally went to sleep.

\---

She groggily woke up to the sound of a door opening.

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes as Phoenix walked into the room and started talking, “Trucy! Sweetheart! Sorry, I had to leave without warning, I got- wow, this place is pretty clean. Trucy?”

Trucy raised her arms over her head, “In here daddy! Not only did I clean, but I was also able to find our favorite channels on the TV!”

Phoenix walked in the room completely and looked around at her hard work, “Trucy… I’m impressed! I never thought we’d have the time! Great job!” He walked over to Trucy (who still had her arms up in the air) and gave her a big hug which she gladly returned. She just woke up, so her hug wasn’t as tight as normal, but that’s not what caught Phoenix’s attention, “Hey, sweetie, you’re pretty warm… Are you feeling okay?”

Trucy felt him lean out of the hug so he could feel her face for any kind of fever. Trucy didn’t feel off (just groggy), but she let him indulge in his concern, “Nope! I feel like I just woke from an hour-long nap, but that’s about it. I’m not nauseous or anything like that.”

Phoenix thinned his lips. He believes her that she says she doesn’t feel anything wrong, but that doesn’t mean there _isn’t_ anything wrong, “Well, if you’re up for it, I have to make a quick trip back to the courthouse to pick something up and meet someone. You can come with, or you can stay here and keep sleeping. It’s up to you.”

As Phoenix walked away from the bed to get to his desk, Trucy gasped, “I wanna come with! I wasn’t able to see much of it last time, but since it’s not a court day, I finally can!” She leaped out of bed and grabbed some comfy clothes while Phoenix just watched his daughter’s antics. He grinned, then continued to read some papers he got from the impromptu trip out to the family. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the beds was stripped. The one Trucy was just in wasn’t. Taking this time, he finished the last little part of his daughter's work.

Trucy hastily got herself public ready. Getting out of the hotel room bathroom, she linked her arm with daddy’s and were finally off. The taxi ride over to the courthouse was fine. Trucy got to talk about things to her daddy that she didn’t get to talk about while he was gone. He was happy to oblige and listen to every detail she said. He felt pretty bad about leaving her alone with only a note to signal where he hypothetically was. Eventually, they got to the courthouse.

Stepping inside, Trucy looked around. Now that it wasn’t full of loud and annoying people, she was able to appreciate how nice it was. It kind of had the aesthetic of a bank with dark marbled floors, cream-colored cement walls and gold and wood outlines all over the place. There was the occasional pillar to support the ceiling here and there.

Phoenix finished reading over his notes, “Alright, I just need to go into the main area to grab something and talk to someone. Will you be alright out here?”

Trucy yawned. That nap is turning out to not be the best idea. She nodded her head anyway, “Uh-huh! I’ll be good. I just need to go to the bathroom if that’s alright.”

Phoenix nodded his head as he turned around and walked to where he needed to go, “That’s fine. Let’s meet back here in about ten to twenty minutes, alright?”

Trucy nodded her head, “Okay, daddy!” She bounded away in a different direction than her dad was walking. She found her way to the bathroom and did everything she needed to do. She washed her hands and dried them off etcetera etcetera. She was even able to fix certain parts of her hair that she couldn’t fix after she woke up. She got out of the bathroom and started walking back down the hall, that is, she did until she spotted someone out of the top of her eyes a few feet away. She stopped walking and snapped her head up to look at the person. She immediately tensed up.

A few feet away was Wakisaka Niou, and she had no idea what he wanted.

\---

Trucy gulped. Wakisaka was completely and totally calm as if she and he were good friends. As if he wasn’t the shadiest of all shady people. He put away his shades into his case and kept a folder in his right armpit. Once he put the case in his pocket, he looked back up at Trucy. His smile would be calming to anyone else but her.

He started speaking calmly, “Hello, Ms. Wright. I’m glad we finally have the chance to speak privately.”

Taking a deep breath, Trucy puffed up her chest as if she were an animal trying to be bigger than it actually is, “I suppose. But I don’t know why you want to talk to me, my daddy knows a lot more about this case than I do-”

Wakisaka’s chuckle was dark, shutting Trucy up immediately, “While I may want to ask about the case, this is certainly something can’t I talk to him about.”

Trucy inhaled deeply, trying to keep a cool facade, “O-oh, okay. Then what did you need to know?”

The grin Wakisaka had somehow managed to get bigger, “I was just curious about some things. Are you able to find your way around the city okay?”

Alright, Trucy was getting quite annoyed, “I know you’re not here to be buddy-buddy with me, mister, so why don’t you just tell me what you want?!”

So that direction might not have been the best to take since Wakisaka slowly lost his grin and transformed his face into a fierce glare, “Be careful, girl, you’re lucky I’m giving you a chance to fix this. I could just ruin your lives right now, but I decided to be merciful.”

He probably only took about one or two steps forward, but Trucy backed up into the wall as if he towered over her entirely. She kept her trembling down to a minimum; didn’t want this prosecutor to see how scared she was, “L-lives? What do you m-mean?”

Wakisaka lost some of his posture, but his demeanor stayed the same. He took his folder and opened it, “I’ve been doing some research. Your daddy has had an interesting career. He was disbarred for seven years over faulty evidence. Except for that evidence was deliberately placed in his hands to make him lose. Hmm…”

She was backed into a corner, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get angry, “What are you exactly playing at here?”

Wakisaka grabbed one last piece of paper from the folder before closing it. He looked her directly in the eyes, “It would certainly be a shame if it happened again, wouldn’t it?”

Oh heck no! “Too bad daddy no longer takes evidence unless it’s from a trusted source or if he found it himself. Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work!”

Wakisaka chuckled again, seemingly unaffected by this news, “Interesting. Well, there are many ways to get around that. One of those ways is this.” He held up that piece of paper for her to see.

Trucy gasped. It was a picture of their _hotel room._ Not only that, it was a picture of how it looked after Trucy cleaned it up today! How does she know this? That fact that in the picture on one of the beds was _Trucy herself._ Meaning he somehow got into their room, _on purpose,_ to try to intimidate them.

Or maybe just her.

That must be why she felt warm and groggy, and probably why she didn’t wake up at the noise/feeling of intruders. He must have done something so she wouldn’t. Trucy was glaring now, “You evil man! I should report you to the authorities!”

Wakisaka rolled his eyes, “I suppose, but money can make people do things they shouldn’t do. For instance, that Yasumi family is so nervous, a couple thousand should soothe their nerves. Maybe even make them drop this silly case.”

Shoot! What’s she supposed to do to that? “Then why don’t you just do it already? Won’t that make you happy? Get us out of your hair so you don’t have to worry about your precious streak being broken?”

Wakisaka sighed. Like what Trucy wasn’t figuring out wasn’t obvious, “Because I’m dealing with Phoenix Wright. I didn’t want to take him seriously at first, but he’s made me resort to this. I would’ve had liked to threaten him away, or use money as I’ve always done, but in the end, he’ll just come back and take me down. I find he’s really good at that. So, if I could make him quit by something on the inside- like maybe his sweet daughter convincing him to- then I don’t have to worry about him coming back a decade later and ruining my life.”

Trucy wanted to react somehow. Gasp, gulp, maybe even make some kind of grunt in shock, but all she could do was stare with wide eyes in apparent fear. 

“So listen up, little girl,” Wakisaka’s glare was bigger than ever before. He leaned into her face from where he was standing, “You have until the day before the last time we’ll be in court to get your daddy to drop this, or where he’ll be going is worse than those seven years.” He leaned away, then managed to somehow smile like they were _still_ good friends, “Okay? Good. I’ll see you at the next court session then.”

He turned and started to walk away, leaving a stunned Trucy to keep her back against the wall. She vaguely registered that he put on his sunglasses as he continued walking, but all that was on her mind was everything else that just happened.

_Where he’ll be going is worse than those seven years._

Well- pardon her language- poop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for being a little late! i had the fire that allowed me to write for everything other than this fic lmao. now that my other published multichapter fic is done, i can put most of my focus into this one! this is still gonna take awhile, but im hoping to update at least every other month! that way, if i want to work on something else or writer's block hits, i can keep a consistent update plan. so keep your eyes peeled for every other month!
> 
> please let me know of any typos that you catch while reading! criticism is fine as long as you give it respectfully~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	6. A Request for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That... happened. But what can I do? I can't just tell Daddy about this! It'll put him more in trouble than either of us could handle!... Wait, what about those people who deal with stuff like this? Do they even exist? Man, I can't believe I'm up late at night thinking about this.
> 
> I'm probably the only person who would lose sleep over this. How pathetic.

The ride to the hotel was ridiculously quiet, no word spoken whatsoever, so when they got back to their room, obviously the first thing that would happen would be Phoenix asking, “Hey, is everything okay?” 

Trucy blinked. Turning around to face him, she pulled out her biggest smile yet, “Of course! What would make you think different, Daddy?”

Phoenix thinned his lips, “Are you sure? Because you were talking up quite a storm on the way there, yet on the way home, you were as quiet as a rock. Did something happen in the courtroom?”

Oh no. Trucy gulped, but did so in a way that her daddy wouldn’t notice, “Uh, nope! I was just in awe at how cool it was! I couldn’t stop thinking about it even in the taxi!”

Trucy watched as Phoenix stepped closer. He had a look of disappointment, but Trucy knew it was just from not being able to figure out what was wrong with her, “Are you one hundred percent positive? You’d usually talk a whole lot more if something was amazing.”

She puffed her cheeks in annoyance, “Yes, dad, I’m sure. It’s not my fault you keep taking me to so many cool places you can’t remember how I react to all of them.” She finished her statement by placing her hands on her hips and staring at him with less than appreciation on her face.

Well, being snappy and using ‘dad’ instead of her normal lingo probably didn’t help her case in convincing him. She didn’t show her uncertainty in that to him, however.

Regardless, after being given the glare of a lifetime, Phoenix blinked a few times and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Okay, I’ll drop it. Just… you can come to me for anything, you know that, right?”

Trucy took two steps forward and draped her arms around him for more reasons than one, “Of course, daddy. I’ll always come to you with my problems, okay? After all, you’re my Number One Assitant!”

Phoenix lightly gripped her back, “... I thought that was Apollo?”

Trucy snorted, “It is when it’s convenient.”

Phoenix also grinned, “Atta girl.”

After reluctantly splitting apart, Trucy watched as her dad went into the bathroom to shower. When the noise of the running water started, Trucy just sat down on the end of her bed and started quietly crying. God, this was such a mess. She had her closest confidant right next to her, yet she was in a position that she couldn’t tell him _anything._

Trucy could handle many things, but this...

Rubbing the tears out of her eyes quickly, she sat up with determination. Is she scared? Terrified, actually, but you know what else she is? The one thing that never changes in her?

She was Trucy Wright. 

And Trucy Wright never gives up.

\---

Her daddy went to sleep with a little more nudging, and once he did, Trucy just stared at the ceiling with her hands behind her head. She was in her bed in her nightclothes and showered, not able to sleep. She still wasn’t giving up! She was just having a little bit of trouble figuring out where to start. Yeah...

_Where he’ll be going is worse than those seven years._

Gosh, she still couldn’t get what he said out of her mind. Sure, they’ve been threatened before, heck, her daddy had a bunch of guns pointed at him once! But the fact that this man was willing to go that far, threaten her family in a way he knew would cut deep, was scary. Outrageous. But like she said, _she couldn’t do anything about it._

If she told her dad, he would _definitely_ not just back out gracefully and leave. She was his _daughter,_ so not only would he fight to prove Yasumi’s innocence twice as hard, he’ll go the extra mile and get Wakisaka in trouble too, and that’s the _worst_ possible thing. Does Trucy want that? Yes. Absolutely. She wants nothing else more than for Wakisaka to taste his own karma, but she can’t ignore what will happen to them if Wakisaka does get defeated.

Well, the first plan of action was that she needed to calm down. Trucy did eventually want to sleep before the morning came around. However, anything she tried seemed to do nothing to ease that feeling in her gut. She flipped and turned and smushed her face and did everything possible outside of contorting of her entire body, yet nothing worked. She still was worried, freaked out, and most importantly, _lost._

Laying on her back again to stare at the ceiling, a totally unrelated thought hit her out of left field. Wait a minute… what was that group called? The one that people were talking about on the train. They all mentioned something about these people helping them with their issues. This group might not be able to help Trucy, they might not even be real, but it wouldn’t hurt to check, would it?

She pulled out her phone and looked up a wide variety of things. ‘Secret helper group’; ‘Fake team that saves people’; ‘Incognito heroes that don’t exist’; none of those options pulled up anything, and Trucy was starting to think that this search was really fruitless. Then, she remembered something important. A key descriptor of those people. Eyes a little bit wider, she went back to the search bar one more time and entered what she thought would work.

‘Secret group of _theives_ that help people out.’

Her phone took a minute to load, and when it did, she almost didn’t hide the gasp that came from her mouth. The first option said exactly what she wanted to find. Seeing the name made her recall the entire conversation those people had on the train that one night.

 **The Phantom Thieves.** Their website being called the ‘Phan-site’. That’s… actually pretty funny. Props to whoever came up with it. Browsing it for a little bit, she eventually came across a forum page that was labeled ‘Requests for Help’. There. That’s what she needs.

When she entered it, she was caught off guard. Oh, there were definitely lots of posts, but looking at the dates they were submitted, it seemed to be sporadic. The site was lucky to have one a week from what Trucy could tell. However, much further down, the posts were posted more rapidly. Like, ridiculously so. The posts were days upon hours upon _minutes_ apart, signifying that these guys were popular at one point.

Did… did something happen? What exactly _was_ this?

Trucy was almost willing to drop it and look for another option (this seemed really shady), but then she remembered how Wakisaka said he’s paid people off to get rid of them, and judging by the requests these people have asked for help for, _lots_ of people in this place can be given money and they’ll ignore the problem. Even if the problem is downright god awful.

Trucy sat up as straight as a board and positioned her thumbs. With a determined look, she started to type. 

With lots of deleting, rethinking sentences, and outright groaning in her head, Trucy eventually leaned back and read what she wrote.

_**Dear Phantom Thieves,** _

_**You don’t know me, and I don’t really know you, heck, you might not even exist. But if it’s possible, I would like to request your help. I can’t say much, but I still hope you’ll take my word for what I’m about to say.** _

_**There’s a big case in the news right now; the one about Yasumi. A defense attorney came from afar to help them out and caused a big stir. And that’s because of the prosecutor: Wakisaka Niou. Apparently, he’s never been beaten in court.** _

_**Normally, most people wouldn’t even bat an eye, but I’ve caught wind of Wakisaka being less than honorary. Someone was told that he pays people off to ignore his wrongdoings, potentially even falsifying evidence to get what he wants.** _

_**When that person who was told called him out on it, he blackmailed them. Threatened horrible things to their family if they didn’t get the defense attorney to drop the case the day before the last day they’ll be in court. That’s about 24 days away.** _

_**Now I get this seems fishy. After all, who’s to say that just because he’s always won means that he's done dirty things to do it? People can just be really talented at what they do, I personally know that first hand.** _

_**But I’m** _ **scared. _I don’t want that family’s life to be ruined, and I also don’t want a person like Wakisaka to get away from all that he’s done._**

**_So please, listen to me, and_ change Wakisaka Niou’s heart.**

**_Thanks in advance,  
Random Civillian_ **

Taking a deep breath, Trucy nodded once before hitting the button that posted her submission.

Putting her phone to sleep mode and turning over onto her side, Trucy might have eventually gone to sleep, but it certainly wasn’t as rest-filled as she would have normally liked.

\---

Akira has found that the groans he gives when he’s texted in the middle of the night have only gotten louder as time has gone on.

Sighing and pulling the aforementioned device out, he saw a barrage of messages, all from one small, blue-ish black-haired boy.

_**Mishima Y:** DUDE! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT_

_**Mishima Y:** You’ve heard about that famous case in the news, right?_

_**Mishima Y:** The murder mystery?? The defendant's name is Yasumi??_

_**Mishima Y:** If you have, you’ll never believe what got requested!!_

Akira felt Morgana come up next to his head to read the freakout. Akira felt the same amount of confusion and minuscule exasperation (mainly from being woken up at 3 AM) from the cat as he was experiencing.

_**Akira K:** Hit me up._

_**Mishima Y:** The person who’s heart needs changing is Wakisaka Niou! THE PROSECUTOR!!! THE ONE WHO’S NEVER LOST?!?_

Akira’s thumbs hovered over the keyboard in a moment of shock. He felt his heart stop before continuing on as if nothing happened

_**Akira K:** Huh. Interesting. What’s he been accused of?_

_**Mishima Y:** The person said he’s blackmailing someone in the attempt to try and force them to convince the defense attorney to drop the case! They say he’s even paying people off, maybe even falsifying evidence! This is some crazy stuff dude! You should at least check it out!_

_**Akira K:** I’ll let the others know. Thanks, Mishima._

With a goodbye said between them, Akira let his hand flop back down to his hip like he normally does, but instead of immediately falling back asleep, Akira stared at the ceiling, an uneasy feeling pooling in the bottom of his gut.

“So, you’re worried about them too, huh?”

Akira looked over to see Morgana with his typical serious face. Clearly, the same thought ran through his head throughout that entire text-conversation: how was Trucy and Mr. Wright involved in all of this? The person did say that Wakisaka is forcing them to get the defense attorney to drop it, and the defense attorney literally became their friend a couple of days ago. It’s poor timing if Akira has ever seen it.

Then again, they wouldn’t be The Phantom Thieves without that bad luck on their side.

Akira pushed his lips together, “Yeah, I’m a little concerned. I don’t think this info can wait until the next meeting.” Morgana mewed and nodded as he got back into position to watch Akira go to the now-hidden-behind-a-password group chat they started using after everything (Futaba insisted, mainly because she wanted to try out her new code).

_**Akira K:** Hey, guys, I’ve got important news._

_**Ryuji S:** Wow, it’s so important the leader himself is texting in the middle of the night? We’re usually the ones doing that ya know_

_**Akira K:** This is payback for all of the times you told me about a ‘really cool movie’ that couldn’t wait until morning. Ya know, like a normal person would._

Akira smirked at the idea of Ryuji squawking in his bed after being called out.

_**Ann T:** Alright you children, is there a reason this needs to be done here?_

_**Makoto N:** I agree. What’s the important news, Akira?_

_**Futaba S:** it better be actually important otherwise im hacking your coffee maker for waking me up_

_**Yusuke K:** Is that even possible?_

_**Futaba S:** i have ways Inari_

Akira rolled his eyes before dropping the bomb.

_**Akira K:** A request was placed on the forum that’s rather big, and kind of unsettling if I’m going to be perfectly honest._

_**Haru O:** Oh? Who’s the big baddie this time?_

Akira took a deep breath and typed as carefully as possible. Now that he thinks about it, it feels like he’s actually about to push the big red button to drop a nuke instead of just a simple bomb.

_**Akira K:** Wakisaka Niou. The prosecutor who’s never lost a case._

Akira literally felt the air leave his friends’ bodies despite being all across different parts of the city. They couldn’t believe it, and frankly, neither could Akira. Still.

_**Futaba S:** WWWHHHAAAAAATT????_

_**Ann T:** You’re joking… right? Akira?!_

_**Haru O:** Oh dear, that’s…_

_**Yusuke K:** Awful._

_**Makoto N:** Huge too. What in the world has he been accused of?_

_**Akira K:** Paying people off for starters. It’s suspected that he’s been falsifying evidence, which is a no go, especially for someone in his job. But there’s also..._

Akira struggled to type out the last part.

_**Haru O:** But what? Is it that bad?_

_**Akira K:** … he’s blackmailing too. The person being blackmailed was told to get the defense attorney facing him to drop everything surrounding this case and is being blackmailed to do it._

_**Makoto N:** ..._

_**Futaba S:** holy moly..._

_**Ann T:** What?!_

_**Yusuke K:** How inconceivable. A man in his profession doing things like that..._

_**Haru O:** Considering the things we’ve seen, it’s not that shocking anymore, but despite the numbers, it still doesn’t take away that awful feeling in our stomach it gives us._

_**Ryuji S:** The frick?!? What about Phoenix?? Or Trucy???_

There’s the elephant in the room. Akira is glad he’s not the one to bring it up. Especially since he could metaphorically hear his friends hiss at the idea.

_**Haru O:** Oh no! I didn’t even think of that!_

_**Futaba S:** god i hope not. he’ll be in a world of pain if he gets remotely close to them_

_**Yusuke K:** You don’t think… _

_**Yusuke K:** Nevermind._

_**Ann T:** What, Yusuke? What is it?_

_**Makoto N:** Don’t be afraid to speak your mind, Yusuke. We need all the brainstorming we can get._

_**Yusuke K:** Considering Mr. Wright’s connections to this place, or more specifically, his lack of them, do you think it’s possible that Wakisaka went for the person he knows is close to Mr. Wright? One that he knows Phoenix would do anything for?_

_**Futaba S:** trucy,,,_

_**Ann T:** Oh God, that’s way more possible then I would like..._

_**Ryuji S:** That bastard!!!_

_**Makoto N:** Listen, I’m upset at this possible revelation as you are but we cannot just jump into this without evidence._

Akira wasn’t even reading the chats anymore. He was letting himself panic a little bit more than he normally would. The idea that someone even like _Trucy_ could experience those kinds of people was…

_**Yusuke K:** I’m worried as much as you all are too, but Makoto is right. Lest we want a repeat of Medjed and Okumura Foods, we need to be absolutely sure that we can do this safely._

Akira blinked before typing again. He used the idea of Trucy and her dad being involved as a conversation starter.

_**Akira K:** You’re all right_

The leader felt everyone’s confusion before continuing.

_**Akira K:** Makoto is right in that we need to be sure we can do this properly without fear of sabotage. Yusuke and the rest of you are also partially right in regards to Trucy’s involvement to Wakisaka. It doesn’t matter whether or not Trucy is being blackmailed, she’s still a good source of info for his character and situation since she sees him at least once a week. Futaba, we really need to be in contact with them more._

_**Futaba S:** ill work overtime for that now!!!_

_**Makoto N:** Right, of course. They’ll know more about Niou than any of us combined._

_**Haru O:** I agree, but how are we going to get them to talk about it without alerting them about our, er, ‘secret job’?_

Akira froze. He didn’t even think about that part.

Morgana pawed at Akira’s head to get him to listen. Morgana started talking when Akira looked at him, “Tell Futaba to contact Trucy tomorrow to invite Trucy and her father over to LeBlanc. We can talk more about how we’ll get information in the morning before they get here. We’ll probably just have some of us talk to them as if it were a normal conversation and everyone else will simply listen.”

Akira nodded once before going back to his phone.

_**Akira K:** Morgana says that Futaba needs to text Trucy tomorrow to invite her and her dad to the cafe. In the morning, we’ll meet up and decide what to do from there. He said we can make it a harmless conversation; one that just makes us seem like we’re ever so slightly curious about the case. Sound good?_

_**Makoto N:** That’s as good as it’s going to get._

_**Ann T:** I agree. Hopefully, we’re just assuming the worst, right?_

_**Ryuji S:** I sure hope so…_

Akira grimaced and assumed everyone else did as well. No outcome they were thinking of seemed positive in the slightest.

_**Akira K:** Agreed. Get a good night's sleep, everyone. It appears that we’re going to need it._

_**Ann T:** Yup. See you all tomorrow!_

_**Yusuke K:** Dream peacefully, everyone._

_**Haru O:** Sleep tight_

_**Ryuji S:** Don’t let the bed bugs bite!_

_**Makoto N:** What they said, minus the rhyming._

_**Futaba S:** peace!_

This time, when his hand and phone flopped down to the part of the bed by his hip, he went to sleep, but it certainly wasn’t as nice as all the other times he’s done this. 

He doesn’t even have a movie to look forward to over the weekend with his friends, dammit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a lot longer than i wouldve liked and theres a reason for that. ive been trying to spam P5 for the past couple of weeks (i was only at the end of futabas palace when i started to write this) and after playing for a little more it occurred to me that i may or may not have made a mistake. you see, this fic is supposed to take place post-p5-story and from what ive seen im assuming they kinda drop the PT label after everything so uhhhh **having this fic be post-game is a huge continuity error**
> 
> considering ive only been able to reach the start of shidos palace at this point and my college classes start TOMORROW, i dont think ill be able to update this fic on time and finish the game in an orderly fashion. at the start i was hoping i could just slap the AU tag onto this fic and call it good, but that seems not to be the case. so... ive come up with an idea that can still make this fic post-game AND an AU but still have the Thieves be Thieves. is it a good one? eh, i shall see your guys' reactions when i get to that part of the story
> 
> ive also decided to rework Akira's muteness. ive gotten further into the game and having him be completely mute doesn't really work out in my eyes anymore. oh, he's still _selectively mute_ because i have a reason for that ;) but let this be the statement that says Akira will talk a lot more than i had originally planned
> 
> outside of that wall of text, like i said, my college classes (on top of my new job as well) will start tomorrow (and band and choir will start a week afterward), so this fic will be updated s l o w l y the next few months. if updates drop off the face of the earth, im incredibly sorry and im warning you in advance. im not quitting this! i just would like to focus on my classes
> 
> with all that out of the way, please let me know of glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is fine as long as you give it in a respectful manner~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	7. Request...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I have no plan so far, and that's not exactly helping my state of mind. If only there was a convenient distraction from my current woes and strife. Daddy certainly has a few ideas, bless his heart, but none of them seem to really click with me at the moment. At least he tried... 
> 
> Wait, why is my phone vibrating?

It was finally morning, but Trucy wasn’t feeling that much better.

She and Phoenix were just lazing about their hotel room. Nothing was happening today, and they haven’t been asked to go meet Yasumi’s family yet, so they figured they were finally given a break for once. Phoenix sat on the edge of his bed deep in thought, while Trucy sat at the desk in the big comfy desk chair, nibbling one of her fingernails.

Phoenix was wearing a casual outfit. It consisted of a mint green dress shirt that buttoned down to the top of his chest, jeans that were stereotypical denim jeans, and dress shoes that were the same ones he always wore. His familiar magatama rested right on top of the buttons of his shirt. Meanwhile, Trucy had her hair in a simple braid, and her clothes could also be described as casual. She had on light blue jean shorts, a maroon shirt and a dark blue shrug. Her sneakers were as white as snow, and frankly, if she focused on anything else other than their clothes she might lose it.

That and her phone she currently had in the hand that wasn’t being munched on. Funny animal pics always used to cheer her up. The keywords there being _used_ and _to._

She hadn’t made any progress on figuring out an idea on what to do, and that lack of though is what was pushing her anxiety through the roof. She wouldn't feel truly okay until she had a plan of action, and even then, she'd still have to see the man in court constantly. She also kept her fingers crossed for The Phantom Thieves intervention, sort of like how a little kid would hope Santa kept them on the Nice List for Christmas.

Phoenix saw his daughter in discomfort and tried alleviating it a little bit, “Hey, Trucy? Considering today is a break day, is there anything you’d like to do?”

Trucy blinked once before looking at her dad, “Uh, nope, not really! What do you have in mind?”

Phoenix thought for a second before remembering, “Oh! I’m pretty sure this place has a pool. Wanna get some swimming in with your dad?”

Trucy giggled, “Well, normally I would, but I don’t feel up to cleaning my hair like I have to after I swim. Plus, you know you would only sit in the hot tub. Not that I blame you for that.”

Phoenix grumbled at being called out, “You don’t need to a kick a man while he’s down, honey.” Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, if swimming doesn’t tickle your fancy, then why don’t we just explore the area again? This city is huge, I’m sure we haven’t seen everything yet.”

Trucy nodded, “Sounds good to me!” Right before Trucy could stand up to walk out of the apartment, the phone in her hand vibrated intensely. Leaning back into the desk chair and seeing what caused the commotion, she widened her eyes in happy shock. The cause was three simple texts from a familiar face.

**_Futaba S:_ ** _sup my homeslice bread slice!!!_

_**Futaba S:** guess who has an_

_**Futaba S:** I D E A_

Due to what happened, Trucy nearly forgot about Futaba having her number. Despite it all, seeing Futaba’s texts managed to put a small smile on her face. Trucy could imagine the orange-haired girl clearly with her enthusiastic way of typing. Positioning her thumbs, Trucy began to reply. Phoenix just watched as his daughter get reinvested into her phone.

**_Trucy Wright:_ ** _Oooh! Tell me! Tell me!_

Phoenix was grinning himself. He fixed his collar as he spoke, “Did Athena send a funny pic again?”

Trucy shook her head no, but her excitement still rang true, “Nope! It’s Futaba! She has an idea apparently, and wants me to hear it!”

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Did you two exchange numbers?”

Trucy froze momentarily, the smile still on her face but her mouth open. Right, he didn’t know about this. Yeah, Futaba is a nice girl, but perhaps her daddy shouldn’t know that Futaba has the ability to find people’s numbers by herself. Trucy shook off the shock, “Yup! While you were in the bathroom, we slipped each other our numbers for future-proofing!”

Phoenix nodded his head before leaning back and pulling out his phone to respond to his own messages, “I’m always glad to see you make more friends, sweetie.”

Trucy nodded her head and went back to her phone. There was a string of texts listing what exactly Futaba’s plan was from Futaba herself.

**_Futaba S:_ ** _well, it revolves around you being free today_

_**Futaba S:** if you are and are okay with it, we’d all love for you to come to the cafe!_

_**Futaba S:** we need to hang out as much as possible before you go back home_

_**Futaba S:** plus you need to teach us some magic tricks_

_**Futaba S:** plus plus morgana misses you. he might not show it but he doooees_

_**Futaba S:** just let me know if and when ur coming over!_

_**Futaba S:** we’re lazy bums and will be sitting at the cafe all day lol so anytime is fine_

_**Futaba S:** if you wanna kick the door open like ryuji right this moment to surprise us that would be totally okay too!_

_**Futaba S:** just let me know~_

Raising an eyebrow, Trucy pondered the suggestion. Obviously, she’d love to go to the cafe whenever possible, but something about the request seemed… out of place. Regardless, Trucy looked up to Phoenix, “Hey, daddy? How about we go to LeBlanc today? Futaba invited us, and you said we don’t have anything else to do. Maybe going to a place we know is a little better than mindlessly wandering around.”

Phoenix raised both of his eyebrows in a way that said, ‘Huh, I didn’t even think of that,’ “Hmm, why not. I’ve been meaning to try more of the cafe’s coffee anyway. Tell them we’ll be over as soon as possible!”

Trucy grinned from ear to ear and looked back to her phone.

**_Trucy W:_ ** _See you in about half an hour Futaba! Thanks for the suggestion~_

Putting her phone to sleep and then into her pocket, Trucy bounded out of the chair to her dad’s side and linked elbows like they always do. With smiles on their faces and a conversation that will last the whole taxi ride, they walked step by step together to the familiar cafe.

Little did Trucy or her father know that a group of eyes was over Futaba’s shoulders as the two girls talked. She would never know about the sighs and high fives of relief when she said yes to seeing those eyes in person either.

\---

“We’re here!” Trucy sang out in a sing-sing song voice.

Stepping inside the cafe, Trucy examined the controlled chaos. Akira, Sojiro, and Futaba were all at the counter doing various tasks. Akira was washing plates, Futaba was sitting and typing on her laptop, and Sojiro was wiping down every part of the counter that didn’t occupy his daughter.

Across the room was the rest of the bunch. In one booth were Haru and Ryuji deep in some kind of card game. Ryuji seemed a little too into it with the way he squinted at the cards so close to his face, but everybody was too focused on their own thing. Morgana was also idly snoozing on the table next to the card players.

The last three, as suspected, were all together. Makoto, Ann, and Yusuke were in the same booth talking up a storm. Yusuke was on the side farthest away from the exit, while Makoto was in the side that had her back to it. Ann simply sat in a chair in the aisle. They all had smiles as they nonchalantly chatted. Along with everybody else, they stopped talking and looked up when they heard Trucy’s voice. Seeing her and her father gave them the biggest smiles they’ve had all morning.

Something about the setup seemed off to the Wrights. It was partially due to how it felt like Futaba and the others were, er, what’s the word? Constraining themselves? It looked like the others had their guard up for some reason. Trucy knew that they were still practically strangers, but this felt like they were all waiting for Trucy and her daddy to attack them. Why?

Feeling judgment from the visitors, Futaba leaned back for a minute to greet them, “Welcome back to our humble abode! Please feel free to do whatever you please!”

With that, she looked back at her laptop and started clicking away again. Trucy sighed in amusement. Only Futaba could break in and out of utter focus like that. Looking away from the girl, Trucy spotted Ann smiling at her, “Here! Come join us! We were just talking about you!”

Trucy mindlessly bounded over while Phoenix raised an eyebrow. Makoto had to stand up to give her side of the booth to Trucy and her dad. The new setup would consist of Yusuke and Ann on the same side and Makoto being in the chair. Phoenix and Trucy would, of course, occupy the side Makoto was originally in. As Phoenix sat down, he asked his question, “So, you were talking about us?”

Ann nodded her head while Makoto spoke, “We watched your first appearance in court the other day. We all got pretty worried when it looked like you were about to lose immediately, but that comeback was simply amazing. No wonder Tanosuke chose you.”

Yusuke nodded his head in a way that could be described as quaint, “Truly incredible display of your abilities, Mr. Wright. I was in awe at how cooly and calmly you handled it.”

Before Phoenix could say anything in response to that, Trucy leaned over the table in pride, “What did I tell you? That’s Daddy for ya! He can make the impossible possible!”

The other teenagers giggled as Phoenix cleared his throat and Trucy sat back down in her seat while he spoke, “Well, I’m flattered you guys. I’m happy to see all of you in such support of me.”

Ann tilted her head like a cute puppy, “Why wouldn’t we be? You guys are awesome, and definitely more interesting than that “totally-popular-prosecutor-that-we’ve-never-heard-of-until-now”, but, I gotta ask... what brought you back from the edge? That judge was ready to call Guilty immediately, so you must’ve pulled something _really_ big.”

Trucy perked up before worryingly looking at her dad. She wasn’t sure how much they should share if any at all, so she kept her mouth shut and let him decide.

Phoenix was conflicted. Clearly, spreading info around like candy wasn’t going to help their situation, but he’s also been told by Apollo and Maya numerous times to rely on more than just himself. Plus, these guys seemed like good people. They were genuinely invested in _him_ winning the case, and it _was_ being broadcasted 23/7, they would hear about this eventually. Better have the info be truthful, “Well, I noticed a big plothole in the story Wakisaka tried pushing. One of the witnesses Wakisaka brought in... wasn’t a witness. At all. They weren’t even in the country at the time of the crime.”

Everyone gasped. Makoto and Ann put their hands over their mouths, while Ryuji made his disappointment more clear, “What?! That’s horseshit!”

Everyone blinked at the blonde-haired boy. Akira just shook his head and practically threw his hands into the air. Ryuji realized what happened before blushing and grumbling over his cards, “C’ mon, Haru. You gotta stop using that move! It’s totally unfair!”

The lady in question just looked confused before she made note of what he was saying. She pushed her cards closer to her nose and giggled, “It’s not my fault you still haven’t picked up on the trick, Sakamoto-Kun. Sorry for interrupting you guys, we’ll be quieter.”

Oh, so he was upset about the card game… really?

Trucy puffed her cheeks but made no move to comment further.

Makoto cleared her throat, “That’s… awful, Mr. Wright. I simply don’t understand how anything like that could get away in court!”

Yusuke went so far as to clench his fists under the table in his own response, “Truly terrible. What kind of prosecutor pushes something like that and is still seen as credible?”

Phoenix believed their emotions were true, but they felt just a little bit exaggerated. He slightly squinted his eyes towards the three teenagers.

Ann, realizing the awkwardness that was about to ensue, started up the banter again, “Anyway, what’s he like? Charming? Ruthless? A winning streak like that doesn’t come from just anywhere. What would you say is his defining trait?”

Phoenix raised his eyebrows before thinking. It was an odd question, and it certainly was a deflect of the topic, but, in the end, there’s no harm in simple curiosity, “Well, I have to admit, the guy does have charm. He walks with a sense of purpose, never faltering, and even if those traits came from him being fishy, I can’t lie and say I don’t appreciate being able to not worry about what others think about you.”

Yusuke leaned back, smiling his stereotypical smile and relaxing as if he didn’t get blindly mad a few seconds ago, “Of course. Many criminals manage to get away with the things they do all because of their suave. It’s, unfortunately, a common occurrence I find.”

Both Phoenix and Trucy raised an eyebrow at that this time. Trucy even went as far as to widen her eyes slightly. “Why did he jump to criminals so quickly?” she whispered to herself.

Well, she maybe should have considered just how close their close quarters was when she decided to say that question to herself out loud, but the damage was done. Yusuke made a movement that was just barely a not-flinch, Ryuji following in his footsteps doing the same. Akira seemed to stop washing the plate in his hands briefly, and the same thing happened to Futaba’s typing on her computer and Haru’s shuffling of her cards. Heck, even Sojiro stopped wiping the countertop for a second. Ann and Makoto simply widened their eyes for a moment, before bringing them back to their ‘calm’ shapes.

Makoto tried covering for her friends, “Well, you are a defense attorney. Surely you understand how easy it is to think ‘criminals’ when charm is brought up, right? Yusuke isn’t entirely wrong in the fact that most of them always seem too good to be true.”

Phoenix leaned forward, back becoming straighter and straighter by the second, “Yeah, I’m a defense attorney, but, while I certainly can’t police your interests, it’s just a little weird. I get being concerned about Niou because of his tactics, and maybe even wondering if there’s a darker meaning behind his actions, but you guys were very calm in your assertion. I don’t want to assume anything, especially on guys as young as you, but why _are_ you so interested in this dude?” 

Ann nervously looked over to Yusuke, who was just as nervous and anxious as her. Ann looked back at Phoenix and attempted to speak again, but she just opened her mouth like a fish over and over again, clearly at a loss. This was going downhill and downhill fast. The next few seconds felt like ice and fire filled the cafe at the same time.

Everything moved in slow motion.

The tension was suddenly thick. Everyone was sweating bullets, and Trucy was tempted to pick up a knife from the table and try and cut the air. Out of the corner of her eye, Trucy watched her dad squint his eyes even more in a way that said he absolutely didn’t believe what was in front of him. His hand slowly moved to his magatama, and Trucy was so conflicted about whether or not she should stop him or let it play out for her sake that all she could do was slowly look back to the people in front of her.

Right as his fingers graced the necklace, a large **_SLAM_** echoed throughout the cafe, causing everyone to slightly jump in their seat or where they were standing. Akira even nearly dropped the plate he was cleaning. Morgana seemed to blearily wake up like a confused cat normally would.

“SLEEPOVER!”

Everyone blinked at least once before slowly turning their heads with wide eyes to look at where the commotion was originating from. Everybody laid their eyes upon Futaba, who was standing up straight as a board and with her hands on the counter. Papers in front of her were ruffled, her eyes wider than anybody else and her breathing was heavy, suggesting that she was the one who smacked the countertop to get everyone to calm down.

Trucy suspected that if it wasn’t around his neck, Phoenix’s magatama would’ve fallen to the floor from the way he released it. And to think, that entire series of events occurred in a matter of seconds, yet everyone felt like they sat in those spots for at least a year.

Breaking the silence, Makoto cleared her throat yet again, causing the Wrights to look back at her with less wide eyes. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, “Yes, er, right, I mean, that’s what we originally wanted to bring up. We all thought it would be nice to get to know Trucy better, so we discussed the possibility of a sleepover.”

Ryuji nodded his head, suspiciously wiping his hands against his pants underneath the table he was sitting at. He decided to jump into the conversation, “Oh yeah! We all thought about having a large sleepover at the cafe. It’s pretty safe considering Akira has lived here for the past year or so, but if you’re that worried, Boss has also offered up his place where he and Futaba live.”

Phoenix tilted his eyebrows again, but didn’t reach for his magatama, “Oh, is that so? Are you sure about that, Mr. Sakura?”

Sojiro blinked once in surprise, then one time in shock, before realizing the severity of the situation. He brought his normal grin back onto his face and crossed his arms, “It’s no trouble, really. They’re good kids. Your daughter seems to be no different. Besides, these guys need to spice up their lives. All they do is go to school, sit around here, and occasionally go to the movies.”

Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck in apprehension, “Gee, I just don’t know. You all are really nice people, but…”

Haru put her hand to her chin. She also wanted to give her two cents now, “Well, I don’t mean to overrule your authority, Mr. Wright, you are the adult after all, and your say is final, but why don’t we ask what Trucy wants? She’ll be the one staying in a new place, and the last thing we want to do is make her uncomfortable. Maybe she can influence your decision?”

Raising an eyebrow, Phoenix looked over at his daughter, who appeared to be struggling to find her words. She flicked her vision all around, not sure which route to take. She very clearly doesn’t want to upset anyone, and either decision will do that in some regard, even if the amount of upsetness turned out to be minimal. Suddenly, she looked to her lap, hiding her face to everyone who tried looking.

Before _anyone_ could tell her it was okay to choose whatever she wanted, her face came back up. It had two wide and bright eyes with a grin so huge a clown would be weeping with jealousy, “Oh, please daddy! It sounds like so much fun! Please please _please_ let me stay over! It’ll just be one night!”

Phoenix was caught off guard a little bit. His daughter’s emotions could really be quite flexible sometimes. As he judged his daughter’s face, he heard small gasps of joy. Peering over at their new friends, they all appeared to have perked up. No more nervous tension or awkward silence, they all grinned and smiled at the prospect of this actually happening. Hell, even the cat seemed more awake now that Trucy admitted she wanted this too.

Sighing, Phoenix obliged, “Alright, you can sleepover,” everybody gasped again, “But! You need to come back with me to get your stuff, to set up some rules, and you better be ready to go by twelve PM sharp tomorrow, okay?”

Trucy vigorously nodded her head while everyone else made noises of happiness (it almost sounded like sighs of relief, but Phoenix decided not to bring it up). Trucy leaped out of her seat into his arms and hugged him around his neck, which he gladly returned. She spoke over his shoulder, “Oh, thank you so much, Daddy! You’re the best in the world!”

Phoenix only nodded his head, “Of course, baby girl.”

Ann was smiling and lightly clapping her hands, “Ooh! I’m so excited! I can’t wait to teach you so many bedtime routines, Trucy! I’ll have you know, even Futaba likes how I do her nails and makeup from time to time.”

Yusuke grinned and hmmed, “Ann truly has the magic touch when it comes to that kind of stuff. She’s even helped me find the right kind of lotion before.”

Makoto leaned back in her chair, “I’m sure we’ll all be able to find things we have in common. I certainly have a few ideas in mind.”

Futaba grimaced from where she was sitting, “Ew, Makoto! Don’t turn this into a nerdy thing again! Remember what happened last time you picked the movie?”

Makoto looked genuinely shocked, “Huh? What do you mean?”

Ann placed a finger on her chin, “Oh, _right!_ Even Akira fell asleep to that documentary, didn’t he?”

Makoto stood up, only partially offended, “Hey!”

Everyone laughed at that. Makoto crossed her arms and puffed her red cheeks before eventually cracking under the pressure and laughing along with them. It was very cheesy, but none of them cared.

“Well, then I guess it’s settled!” Ryuji stood up from his seat to get everyone back on track. He did his stereotypical movement of placing his hand on his shoulder and rolling it to get the kinks out of it, “Sleepover party it is!”

Everyone cheered at that. Even Phoenix, who hid his ever-growing concern quite well.

‘Not as well as you think, Daddy.’ Trucy quietly thought to herself, actually inside her head this time. Through it all, the huge grin on her face remained.

\---

Trucy woke up a little bit into sleeping.

She’s not having trouble sleeping tonight, she just needed to pee. Darn her bladder.

They all had fun before they piled into the attic. They played lots of games, watched a movie, and even watched Ryuji and Futaba try their hand at a karaoke battle. Spoiler: they both lost. They were so bad that when Akira noticed Morgana making his way over to the cord, he mentioned nothing. Trucy is starting to like Akira more and more as time goes on.

Right, the bathroom issue. As she tried to get up, she heard people talking in hushed whispers, purposely being careful so _she_ didn’t hear. Well, she can hold it in for a few more minutes, can’t she? Snuggling back into her makeshift bed, she heightened her hearing.

“Well, that was fruitless,” Yusuke dejectedly pointed out.

“And _way_ too close,” Ann completed his point for him. She started fanning herself with her hand, “Those guys are perceptive. Futaba really clutched it at the end.”

Futaba made a noise that was a mixture of enjoying the compliment but still being frustrated at what went down, “How the heck are we supposed to change his heart if _anything_ we do will clue Trucy and Phoenix off to who we are?!”

A voice sighed, “I forgot how hard it is to keep this a secret.” That had to be Haru.

Wait a minute… does that mean _they’re_ The Phantom Thieves?!

_What?!_

It sounded like somebody moved their legs to be criss-cross applesauce, “For real. No wonder he became a defense attorney with a lie-detector like that.” Ah, it was Ryuji. Nice of him to compliment her daddy, “Well, for starters… what’s the next plan of action, valiant leader?”

The cat mewled for a little bit.

Someone new hmmed and sat up straight, “I was just thinking about that over the sink. Let’s see if this guy is just a Mementos problem or we have to deal with the big guns. Makoto, can you do the honors?”

She’s not really familiar with that voice. Right before she could remember who it was, she also listened as Makoto pulled out her phone and tapped on it before taking a deep breath, “Wakisaka Niou.”

Trucy almost jumped out of her covers when the phone literally said **result found.**

Ryuji hissed, “Damn… that’s not-”

“Great…” Haru finished, slightly apprehensive.

“This certainly puts a damper on things,” Yusuke commented, “People in Mementos, big or small, are fairly easy to deal with undetected. A Palace, one from a pretty famous and in the spotlight person, is not.”

“But we can’t just leave this, right?” Ryuji interjected panickily, “I’m sure as hell not going to leave Phoenix and Trucy to somebody with a goddamn _Palace._ ”

“Of course not,” Makoto stated. Like the danger wasn’t even worth _considering_ while Trucy and her dad were involved, “But we didn’t even think the Nav would be around after everything _at all,_ so the fact that there can even still be _Palaces_ is quite shocking.”

The cat started mewing rapidly again.

Somebody leaned forward, “Yeah, Morgana is right. Let’s figure out everything we _can_ and then worry about what we _can’t._ Akira, do you have any guesses?” That was Futaba, eagerly waiting for her friend’s response.

That not-familiar voice hmmed again, “Well, he is a famous prosecutor. Why not ‘courthouse’?”

Wait, that was _Akira?!_ He’s _speaking?!_

So he _does_ talk more than he lets on…

Why though?

**Result found.**

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Someone even leaned back, “Well, all that leaves is the keyword.” That was Yusuke again, who pushed his hands together into his lap, “But that brings us back to our original problem.”

“How are we supposed to figure out what it is without having an inkling of his character?” Ann said, clearly frustrated at the lack of being able to solve this immediately.

“We either need to rework our plan on getting information out of Trucy and her dad,” Haru began softly, “Or just get the information from a completely different source.”

_Akira_ moved one of his legs a little bit, “Exactly what Haru said. Trying to pry information out of these guys is tough. They’re very good at seeing past things, and that’s the last thing we need to deal with right now. We can try some more tomorrow, but if it just turns up blank, then we need to quit while we’re ahead.”

Ryuji grumbled, “But we still have no idea if Trucy is the one in trouble or not. If we leave them alone, how are we supposed to protect her?”

Akira put his foot down, “If she can’t bring herself to talk about it, then that’ll be it. We certainly won’t leave her to fend for herself, but pushing something that just won’t budge is a waste of time. We can find other ways of getting information. The internet sure isn’t shutting up anytime soon, for starters.”

Makoto hummed in agreement, “He’s right. Trucy’s comfort comes first, plus, on the off chance she isn’t actually involved, we don’t want her to end up that way through our poking and prodding, especially with the threat of a Palace looming over us. I’ll be sure to ask sis some things tomorrow when I get home.”

Futaba dramatically yawned, “Okie dokie! The plan is mostly in place! Now, let’s continue this at a time when I’ll _actually_ be able to remember it due to _actually_ being _awake._ ”

Yusuke was even quieter than before, “But aren’t you awake right now?

“Shut up, Inari. You know what I mean.”

With a few more hushed goodnights, and the sounds of them crawling into their futons or beds, they finally went back to sleep, leaving Trucy to mindlessly stare at the wall in front of her. She was flabbergasted. What? _What?!_ Not only were The Phantom Thieves real, they were literally the people she met a couple of _days_ ago?!

Also, what in the world were they talking about? Nav? Palace? Key Word?! How in the world did any of that connect to ‘secret group of thieves that helps people’? It sounded like some weird circus act, and Trucy was saying that as a Professional Magician herself! 

They also talked to the cat, which was weird, but frankly, that’s the last thing on her mind. This was crazy, and Trucy didn’t know how to respond. Part of her wanted to leap up and say _look at me! Please, save me!_ But the other part of her didn’t want to put these guys in danger.

But from the sounds of it, they already put _themselves_ in danger. On a daily basis. So… what was the right option? She _did_ ask for their help, and turning them away would just make them push harder. But she also wasn’t the one to technically ask. It was an anonymous forum. Wait! Didn’t they mention something about suspecting her true involvement? 

Ugh, her head hurt.

In the midst of her shocked daze, she lost the need to pee by forgetting about it entirely, so instead of getting up like she originally planned, she went right back to sleep, a million thoughts raging in her head. 

Just what _were_ these guys?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you do, fellow writers? guess who wrote half of this right after i posted the last chapter, let it collect dust for weeks and then finished it in one sitting lmao
> 
> college classes have been okay. ive had ups and downs but for the most part i think im doing alright. band and choir have been a blast tho. we got new songs for pep band and i love most of them!!! everyone who's been commenting has made my life and i love reading all of your interpretations. i hope the confrontation scene lived up to all of your expectations!
> 
> please let me know of any glaring typos that interrupt your reading! criticism is okay as long as you give it respectfully~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	8. ...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I could've handled that one better.
> 
> Sorry, Daddy, but I have to say it.
> 
> _Shit._

Trucy woke up.

That’s it. 

She woke up and rubbed her eyes. She got sleep, so she wasn’t tired or anything, but it wasn’t, er, how would she put it? _Normal_ sleep? It was weird, in all honesty. She slept just fine, even with that specific revelation she ~~heard~~ made last light. No twisting or turning, no dreams of any kind, so she had no idea why she was feeling, well, _this._

She couldn’t even describe it. It was a weird mixture of feeling rested but not. She felt like she had the best dream of her life as well as the worst night terror imaginable. It’s even weirder considering the fact that, again, _she didn’t even dream to begin with._ She just slept! She closed her eyes, it went dark, then she woke up. Boom. End of story. So why--

“Hey, Trucy, you okay?”

Oh, right. _That specific revelation._

Considering how long it took her to connect the dots just shows how unprepared she was for this. Sitting in the room with her were the _Phantom Thieves._ The people that she, admittedly, went to for help, but _before_ she knew they were the people she literally just met! It sucks. Logically speaking, it really shouldn’t change anything. They were the professionals here! She only met them a few days ago, so she shouldn’t feel this much regarding asking them for help.

But they _were_ friends now, and it’s a Wright Family Gene to not to want to ask for help even if they need it, especially if the people they need to ask are close friends. But, again, they’re not really _that_ close, so it’s just stup--

“Yoo! Earth to Trucy!... Do we need to call any medical professionals for this?”

The last half of that statement was a genuine question, so Trucy decided to finally respond, “Wait! Don’t worry, I’m not having a stroke! Just was sad about waking up in the middle of a really nice dream.”

The two people who were over her sighed in relief. Trucy will consider that a win. Rolling over, Trucy sat up and looked at Futaba and Ryuji who were grinning like they were about to play the prank of the century. Trucy figured they weren’t actually going to do anything. That’s just their natural expression at this point. 

“Rise and shine, buttercup!” Ryuji said boisterously. As Trucy raised her arms above her head to stretch her back, Ryuji proudly continued, “Yusuke, Ann, and Haru had to go out to get a few things, Makoto and Akira are making us coffee, and Morgana probably ran off to guilt trip Boss into extra food.”

Futaba leaned back and mimicked Trucy’s stretch, “He’s probably already done it. Sojiro is weak like that.”

Trucy snorted and brought her arms back down. She delicately placed her arms on her legs and stared at her two friends before making small talk, “So, how did you guys sleep?”

Ryuji grinned, “Like a baby!”

Futaba thinned her lips, “That statement isn’t factually correct.”

Trucy raised her eyebrows in shock while Ryuji sputtered, “What? Of course, it is! I slept just fine!”

Futaba was unimpressed, “Babies are the worst sleepers on the planet! If anyone slept like a baby, it was me due to all of your dumb snoring!”

Ryuji was bright red, meanwhile, Trucy hid her giggles behind her hand. She vaguely remembered the sound of snoring, but she was able to shrug it off. She’s gotten used to it considering _everybody_ snored back at home. Daddy, Polly, Athena, even fricking _Maya_ sounded like a donkey when they were asleep. Trucy is immune at this point.

Footsteps came from the stairs, effectively shutting the two idiots up. Trucy looked over with them to see Akira and Makoto slowly stride back into the room, each with two cups of coffee in their hands. Akira handed one of his to Futaba and Makoto handed hers to Ryuji and Trucy.

At first, the magician rejected it, “Wha-- wait! What about you? You won’t have any!”

Then, Makoto gently smiled after taking a moment to process Trucy’s words, “It’s okay. I prefer tea myself.”

Trucy simply blushed and took the coffee and slowly sipped it. She joined in with Akira on the ‘listen to the other three make small talk while we wait’ train. Lo and behold a few minutes later, Ann and Haru came bounding up the stairs with a bag of chips in each of their arms. They were joyfully talking amongst themselves, but when they stepped into the room, they focused on the group sitting in various places. Ann’s grin got wider, “Here are the two most requested snacks! Yusuke will bring the two-liters here in a little bit. He got stopped by a street artist.”

Akira rolled his eyes in a motion that said ‘of course, he did.’

Trucy snorted again.

When everybody started talking, Trucy decided to join in a few times. For the next few minutes, they all just enjoyed each other’s company. Haru waved her hand at Ryuji at one point to essentially say ‘you’re being stupid’, “Pssh, you can never _not_ have enough pillows.”

Ann raised an eyebrow, “You were complaining a week ago about not having enough room on your bed to sleep.”

Now Haru waved Ann off, “That was because I just needed a bigger bed. I have the room for it, so I should just get one”

Ryuji thinned his lips, “Yeah-huh.”

Haru crossed her arms and glared at them both, “Well, neither of you have any right to complain. Ryuji, you say you have no room on your desk despite having thousands of sticky notes you can easily move or even throw away, and you, Ms. Takamaki, do not need that many brands of perfume in your bathroom cupboard.”

The two blondes gasped like they were betrayed. As they tried haphazardly defending themselves against Haru’s cold, brutal, facts, Yusuke meandered into the room with a bag of giant soda bottles, plastic cups, and new paintbrushes. Now it was Futaba’s turn to be annoyed, “Goddamn, Inari, that’s the third set this week!”

Yusuke simply walked to his spot in the room, never meeting her eyes, even for a second, “You say that after I brought you along that one time so you could get _another_ computer mouse. I know you break one every other week, but you do not need to have five in your room at one time.”

Futaba blushed, “Contingencies, Inari! You can never have too many!”

Ryuji suddenly got loud and pointed at Makoto, “Why are me and Ann getting it?! Makoto’s over here complaining about lack of shelf space despite keeping books she’s read 4 four times front to back already!

Makoto’s eyes widened in disbelief, “Literature is worth protecting, Ryuji! And it’s certainly much more important than your seventh, dumb doodle of Godzilla!”

Ryuji turned to stare at her, “My doodles are things of beauty!”

Yusuke grimaced and made an intelligible noise.

Ryuji turned around rapidly to look at the man, “Hey!”

Trucy was watching flabbergasted when a voice of reason spoke. Well, not really a 'voice', and nobody spoke, but Akira _did_ throw something against the ground to get everyone’s attention. When they looked at him with wide eyes, he gestured towards Trucy, who was still wondering about how much money Ann had to be able to practically fill an entire _cupboard_ with perfume.

Futaba, as usual, was able to pick up on what Akira was suggesting, “Oh, good point! Trucy here is new, so she should be unbiased about this.”

Haru leaned forward, “Yeah, Trucy, who’s side are you on?”

Ryuji crossed his arms, “Yeah, I’m curious too.”

Makoto gave him the stink eye, “Don’t become vaguely threatening just because you know everyone is going to turn against you.”

Ryuji nearly threw his hands in the air, “What’s threatening about crossing my arms?”

Yusuke hummed, “It’s not the arms, more the slouching and dark look you started giving.”

Ryuji was completely done, “Can I win with you people?!”

Ann mischievously smirked, “Nope.”

Then, it got quiet. Everyone’s attention was suddenly on Trucy, who was trying to process how to handle such a spotlight.

Then, she just shrugged and brought her coffee to her lips, expression staying completely uninvested at the current dilemma, “It just sounds like you guys are a bunch of dirty hoarders. Pot meets kettle and all that.”

Now _that_ was something the room erupted at.

Trucy watched as everyone scrambled to make a decent excuse while Akira just brought his hands to his temples and leaned back, clearly not expecting for it to turn out this way. As everyone squabbled, Trucy started giggling at Akira’s more and more pained expression. The guy eventually shoved his face into his hands, and that was right after his eyes just screamed, ‘please, kill me now.’

Eventually, Ryuji looked over at Trucy to see her laughing and joined in slowly. Then it was Haru, then Ann, followed by Yusuke and finished by Makoto. It very quickly became a ‘laugh at Akira’s pain’ fest, which Futaba gleefully pointed out while she started laughing, “Suck it up, Akira! You were the one that asked her!”

It almost felt vicious with the way they pointed at him as he curled up into a semi-fetal position. If it were any other group of people they would probably be akin to schoolyard bullies, but it was _them,_ and if you could dish it out, you damn well better be prepared to take it right back.

Once the laughing was over, Ann sighed and leaned back on her hands, “Man, it sure is nice to just forget about everything for a moment.”

Trucy set the cup of coffee she was drinking from down for a moment to mimic Ann, “No kidding. This is way more enjoyable than the other parts of my life.”

Ryuji tried to be subtle, “I bet, especially with everything happening right now, we all just need a break.”

Either Ryuji’s ‘subtle’ is spelled with bright, giant, neon letters, or Trucy was too observant at the moment, “... What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ann tried covering for her friend. Her face was playing the ‘shocked and oblivious’ card, “Well, we’ve all had a long week, especially you, Trucy, so he’s not wrong in the sense that we’ve had it rough recently. Surely some laughter is good for you too, even if you didn’t have other reasons to need it.”

Trucy was abruptly and vaguely aware of yesterday’s conversation. She wasn’t going to bring it up just yet, but she was going to heavily imply it. Her emotions were a light switch to her: she could be very responsible and mature one second, then flip to angry brat the next, “There was absolutely no reason to bring that up whatsoever.”

Ann grimaced and looked away while Ryuji nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Trucy was still glaring, and the sheets in her hands were slowly being gripped tighter and tighter.

Man, the morning was going so well too.

The next few seconds were awkward. Nobody talked, and nobody looked at each other. Curse that stupid Immovable Object meets an Unstoppable Force hypothetical situation. They were living it and it _sucked ass._ Everything went one step forward then two steps back. Granted, that’s what they were used to dealing with, but _uuggghhh._

All of a sudden, Makoto felt a lightbulb in her brain light up. It was one last-ditch effort to see if Trucy would talk, and if she did, bingo, and if she didn’t, well, then they would forget about it. Makoto shuffled her legs so her knees became bunched up next to her and laid them on their side, “You know, my sister is actually a defense attorney too.”

Trucy blinked out of her angry stupor, tension fleeing from her body, “Really?”

Ryuji picked up on Makoto’s plan and playfully facepalmed, “Oh, right! We always forget about Sae! You’d probably like her too, Trucy.” 

Trucy nodded her head in comprehension. She suddenly gained a little bit of clarity about why these guys were so invested. Only a little bit, though. She still couldn’t shake that feeling something was up, “I would love to meet her if it’s possible! What’s she like?”

Makoto hummed, “Well, she’s very strict sometimes. She’s been my guardian for the past couple years, so I guess that’s kind of expected, but she’s also very observant. I offhandedly mentioned a new exhibit at a museum I wanted to go to, and then randomly one night a few months later she showed me two tickets to it during dinner!”

Futaba huffed and crossed her arms teasingly, “I remember those pictures you sent us. You could’ve done me a solid and invited me too!” 

Makoto just rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Trucy’s mouth was wide in amazement, “Wow! She sounds awesome. Reminds me of when my daddy secretly bought me a magic kit I silently eyed in a gift shop. I didn’t even say anything! Color me shocked when I unwrapped my birthday gift that year!”

Everyone was smiling. Crisis barely averted. Ryuji leaned back in his spot, “He sounds like an amazing dad, Trucy. You’re lucky to have someone like that.” 

Yusuke simply nodded his head, “Mr. Wright truly sounds like an amazing fellow. No wonder he’s so good at his job.”

Trucy sighed while grinning, “Yeah, he needs to be, especially for jobs like this…”

The room was silent for only a moment before Ann broke it, “What do you mean by that?”

Trucy gulped, “Oh, I may just be a little tired in general, you know? I’m not used to dealing with a different time zone for so long, and it’s only going to get longer, so I’m exaggerating a little bit. Maybe you two were right about this week being long, sorry...”

The Thieves all looked around at each other with looks that said, ‘yeah, she’s hiding something.’ Clearing her throat, Makoto spoke like she was talking to a frightened animal, “You know, we have a rule for this room: whatever happens in here, stays in here.”

Ryuji nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! If you’re stressed out you can dump on us, we’ll listen. But if you’re really that uncomfortable telling us stuff, then we’ll stop, okay?”

Futaba agreed with Ryuji, “Yeah, no kidding. I get why you wouldn’t want to let it out on these guys, though. These weirdos are wack!”

As Futaba’s friends playfully objected to her comment, Trucy felt her shoulders relax at the familiarity. They were all wonderful people, truly, and Trucy does actually trust them, even though they’ve only known each other for a few days. They just seem like the kind of people you could go to anything about and they’ll understand, you know?

Taking a deep breath, Trucy began, “Well, it all started when Daddy was invited. Apparently, he was like, the eighth lawyer they called, so--”

As she went further and further into her story (very carefully too, she didn’t want them to _know_ ), they all quieted down more and more until only Trucy’s voice filled the room. They got her to open up. _They got her to open up!_ This was good for more than one reason, and they don’t want to squander their chance because they were bickering like fools and gave Trucy the impression they weren’t listening. 

They were.

Extensively.

Unbeknownst to Trucy, Futaba was clicking her keyboard so quietly that nobody could hear her. Her computer may or may not have also been recording their whole conversation at the same time. She was extensively taking notes of Trucy’s physical behaviors. She was intently listening due to wanting to be invested in Trucy’s life, but she also had to get every detail possible. This was their best source of information, and she’d hate to screw them over by missing one tiny detail.

It was like a cartoon scene, in a sense. As Trucy got more and more into it, the Thieves leaned closer and closer, “--and it’s just so, ugh! It’s ridiculous! It’s so obvious something bad is happening behind the scenes, but we can’t do anything because Daddy and I are the only ones who _want_ to!”

The Thieves grimaced at the last thing Trucy said. That feeling was all too familiar, and no matter how many times they felt it, it sucked every time. Even though they had the ability to do something about it now (unlike before they got their powers), it still felt just straight-up awful seeing an older person be so vile. Despite all the emotional turmoil, the only thing that was said was from Futaba, “Damn. That’s rough.”

Trucy sighed and went slack. A bunch of tension just seeped out of her body like steam, and while she did feel a crap ton better, “Man… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping this on you guys. I came to have fun! Not make this morning a huge downer.” Trucy crossed her arms in embarrassment.

After a few moments, Trucy felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and widened her eyes when she saw Akira right next to her, calmly smiling. On her other side, Makoto spoke as if everything she said were a matter of fact, “Nonsense. We all need a good info dump every once in a while. It’s perfectly okay and healthy.”

Haru nodded her head, “Makoto is exactly right. Besides, we’re glad you feel comfortable enough with us to do so. Thank you for letting us help you.”

Trucy simply swallowed her emotions and looked away. It was partially because she felt moved by their comfort and care, but a more pressing feeling came to the forefront: suspicion. Any other person would have taken their words at face value, heck, even Trucy wanted to do so, but years of being with Daddy, plus their reactions from last night, made the gears in her brain start turning.

_We’ll stop pushing you? Info dump? Letting us help you?_

It’s a reach so large Trucy wonders if one can dislocate their shoulder with such a distance, but she can’t shake the feeling it gives her, “Wait… why _are_ you guys pressuring me into sharing so much? Why the interest?”

The thieves slightly jumped. Again, most normal people would brush it off, but Trucy is anything but normal. Her eyes were squinting before she could stop them. Ann tried explaining, “Wait, what’s with the tone, Trucy? We just saw you feeling down and wanted to help.”

Ann’s tone was getting more and more snappish from anxiety and worry, but Trucy doesn’t know that just yet, “I don’t know, why are you so insistent on asking me or Daddy about this case? It’s all over the internet and news! We’re certainly not the only ones you can go to for this.”

Makoto swooped in like she always does, “You have a front seat performance to the show, don’t you? You have all the details with minimum to no bias. Forgive us if we don’t want to read the garbage that the tabloids put out.”

Alright, Trucy had to concede on that one, Makoto had a point. That still didn’t explain one other thing, “Hang on, we never got to finish yesterday’s conversation. Why were you guys so quick to label Wakisaka a criminal when everyone else in this country is willing to at the very least turn a blind eye?!”

Again, Trucy is agitated because of fear, but the Thieves don’t know that quite yet. They have an inkling, but if they respond with joy at her dodginess instead of the typical response of more annoyance, they’ll tip her off. Yusuke was the one to comment this time, “It’s just like we said, lots of famous criminals are charming and ruthless. With your little tirade about how something sneaky going on, it just affirms our assumption.”

“But that was _before_ this little tirade of mine!” Trucy was standing up now, cheeks red from embarrassment. They were running circles around her and she hated it. She felt like she was clawing her way out of a deep hole and that the majority of the ledges she could grab would just make her fall back down to the bottom again and break something.

Ryuji was getting flustered too. He finally found a way to insert himself into the conversation again, “You may have had a point yesterday, but it’s no longer yesterday! Something is going on, you said so yourself, so why are you all of a sudden denying it like everyone else you hate is doing?!”

The magician threw her hands up in the air and groaned out with such a high pitch you would think she shrieked instead. She abruptly turned around, crossed her arms, and huffed in a way that made her feel 10-years-old, “Gosh, why won’t you people just stop?! It’s freaky! You know what to say and what to do to wiggle your way into people’s heads! It’s like you’re professional _blackmailers_ or something!”

Huffing once more, Trucy waited for any kind of response. Something like anger, or denial, or maybe even fear and sputtering. They _did_ freak out pretty badly when her daddy started drilling them before, maybe they would react the same way to her. What she wasn’t expecting, however, was dead silence. Sweat dripped down her neck and face, and for some reason, Pearl’s voice spoke in a sing-song voice in her mind, going _Swing batter batter!_ One of them— Haru, Trucy thinks. Haru is the only one who could speak that softly— asked what was on the rest of the Thieves’ minds.

“Trucy… are _you_ being blackmailed?”

_Aaaand swing and a miss!_ Pearl’s voice rang in the back of her head again, followed by even more dead silence from literally everyone in the room, including Trucy. She flinched only slightly, yet from what she knew about her new friends, they picked up on the tense of her shoulders fairly easily. Crap, out of all the things she could’ve referenced as a hypothetical, it _had_ to be the one that kind of wasn’t? This felt like a bad movie cliche.

Trucy gulped but didn’t turn around. It felt like she swallowed a handful of rocks, and her gut twisted itself into a killer pretzel at the prospect of having to face these people after what she essentially just confessed. In the words of her dear friend Athena: 

_This_ was a _major_ oopsie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> suP FUckERS! i am SO SORRY this took ages. when starting this fic i thought 'yes, finally, something i wont lose motivation on.' then BAM. writers block, and i deeply apologize for that. i took a break and wrote for whumptober as well as some pokemon swsh fics so _hopefully_ im back in the swing of things and this chapter makes sense and isnt ooc. i also may or may not have bought both luigi's mansion 3 and pokemon sword. sword is finally done but LM3 is still eehhh-- 
> 
> i also apologize for the SHORTNESS. getting into this i realized i didnt really space my fic properly in terms of how many words each chapter gets. tldr im just basically sorry for the absence especially considering how short this chapter is in the long scheme of things. in irl related news, GUESS WHO DID THEIR FIRST RETAIL SHIFT DURING THANKSGIVING/BLACK FRIDAY!... FUCK! that was exhausting and tiring and please never expect me to have normal social interactions like a normal human would gOD DAMN--
> 
> other than that, please let me know of any glaring typos you catch~ im okay with criticism as long as you give it kindly!
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	9. ... Received!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How would Klavier refer to her state of mind right now?
> 
> Trucy.exe has stopped working? 
> 
> Well, let's go with that even if he never said anything even remotely similar to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you didnt see the new tag, uh, **general warning for a lot of triggering stuff. all you P5 players out there know their backstories. you know whats being mentioned.**

Trucy knows she already made this joke, but can she still try and cut the air? It was so thick and tense she thought she might actually choke to death before she could turn back around. She supposed the last thing she should look at before death would be their disappointment. It was a little deserving after all. Managing to take a small deep breath, she slowly turned around with a look of fear in her eyes.

Everyone’s pupils had shrunk, and a dark shadow was cast over their eyes. It was a very clear cut case of anger spread across their faces at varying levels, each of their eyes surrounded by ever-growing horror as well. The sight made Trucy’s gut drop, and before she could even begin to possibly apologize or at least give an explanation for her actions, Ryuji rapidly clenched his fists and swore to the Gods themselves.

“That bastard! I knew he was shady! We _all_ did! What a _surprise!_ ”

_Wait, what?_ Trucy was able to get one whole blink in before she saw Morgana somehow _glare_ like something in front of him confessed to murdering a box of orphaned kittens. Was Trucy crazy? Morgana’s a cat! Also, when the heck did he get here wh--

Meanwhile, Futaba threw her hands in the air, “For the love of anime, why can’t we be _wrong_ for once in our stinking lives?!”

Wait, they weren’t mad her. Not even close. Trucy was horribly lost. Why aren’t they mad at her, maybe she’s not processing this right--

Makoto tried being the voice of reason, “Guys, please! I’m just as furious as you are, but we shouldn’t scream! What if someone hears us?!”

Ryuji was hyped up on adrenaline and fear, so logic was out the window, “What, and let the world know what a shitbag Wakisaka is?! Oh God, the horror!”

Ann was conflicted. She agreed with Ryuji, but lord have mercy did he get loud when he was angry, “Ryuji, calm down! Think rationally before we have a repeat of the last horror show!”

Yusuke chimed in, “Rushing into something again will just get us all even more hurt than the last time.”

Haru nodded, “Let’s come up with a plan first, guys, please.”

Morgana was making rapid-fire noises that were somewhere between mewls and yowls.

Ryuji, for some reason, seemed to _agree_ with the cat and snapped back at the others in the room, “Yeah! Every second he’s out there is another second people are hurt!”

Akira was calmly motioning his hands in a way that said, ‘I agree with all of you but _please_ stop yelling.’

Futaba put her hands over her ears, “I don’t agree with anyone anymore just shut up!”

Trucy needed them to either stop or let her lean out the window for fresh air. She couldn’t handle all of the emotions, both in herself and in front of her. Tears streamed down her face due to being so overwhelmed by, well, _everything_ , “Wait! Stop it! What are you all doing?!”

Every single Thief froze at that and slowly turned to look at Trucy with looks of utter confusion. They expected her to be panicked and frazzled (you couldn’t really not be in a situation like this), but the way she nearly screamed at them… she was clearly feeling something else too. Haru spoke up softly, “Trucy, what do you mean by that?”

Trucy felt her breathing get faster and faster, but she needed to know what they were doing, “Why aren’t you upset at me?! Aren’t I the one who dragged us all into this by getting tricked by Wakisaka and then foolishly asking for your guys’ help?!”

Dead silence. Trucy watched their pupils get ever so slightly smaller at her words (which was impressive considering how small they originally were). She was even more freaked out now. They were the Phantom Thieves, anything she did to make them mad probably put her in an even more dangerous position! God, what could they do to--

Then, Ryuji bolted forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held on tight.

Ann was heartbroken, “Trucy, no…”

Makoto sharply inhaled while Yusuke simply closed his eyes and furred his brow. Haru brought her hand over her mouth while Futaba and Morgana could only just sit and stare (which was weird, how could that cat be so expressive?). They were all too familiar with this feeling, yes, but for it to befall Trucy was the worst possible outcome they could’ve imagined.

Trucy, still halfway through her shock, wrapped her arms around Ryuji’s shoulders absentmindedly. She was oddly comforted by the atmosphere now, and she would be darned to ruin it. Thankfully, she didn’t, as a completely unexpected voice did for her.

“Trucy…”

Letting go and peering around Ryuji, Trucy looked into the eyes of Akira. The boy had sadness behind his eyes, but his grin was as cheeky as ever. He took a deep breath and stared directly at her. 

“That’s a load of horseshit.”

Trucy blinked in utter shock while Ryuji let go, keeping a firm hand on her shoulder while grinning at her too. Man, Trucy’s brain is just a pile of mush right now. She rapidly went through the Five Stages of Grief in the past 5 minutes. Now she’s in the sixth, unknown stage: flabbergasted-ness.

Makoto stood up and brushed off her lap, “I think we need to go downstairs for this.”

The rest of the Thieves mmh-hhm-ed in agreement. Ryuji took Trucy by the hand downstairs, mainly because the girl looked like she was somewhere in between two planes of existence. Ryuji felt a little sorry. They probably could’ve handled the big reveal with a little more tact. 

They all lumbered down the stairs with Ryuji and Trucy trailing at the back. They wanted to give her as much space as possible as to not freak her out anymore. Ryuji was only allowed to be as close as he was because he didn’t think she was going to let go of his hand anytime soon. Plopping on the bottom floor, everyone looked up to see Sojiro looking at them with raised eyebrows.

Sojiro was going to cheekily point out that they still had a few hours before Mr. Wright came _so you hooligans better get out of his cafe before you break another chair,_ but then he saw their somber faces and stood up straight.

Then, itty bitty Trucy poked her face out from behind Ryuji and showed off her tear-stained cheeks and Sojiro felt something break in half. He had absolutely zero clue as to what was happening, but he does know that those kids are capable of handling it. Plus, if Trucy reminded him of Futaba a little bit, then who was to blame him?

He walked out from behind the counter to go outside, “I’m gonna close up today. It’s going to be dead anyway because of the game downtown. Akira knows all of your favorites.”

Trucy’s breath hitched. Close the store? _For the entire day?!_ She didn’t want that, especially because of her! “N-No, Mr. Sakura, you don’t have--”

Morgana meowed loudly, interrupting her line of thought. Yusuke snorted, _snorted,_ “Trust me, when Boss wants his store closed, it’ll be closed. Remember the incident with the old lady?”

Makoto barked a laugh, “That was crazy! I thought she was going to throw her purse through the window!”

Ryuji was giggling too, “No kidding, and here I was saying that taking care of that rabid raccoon in the trash was the scariest thing we’d have to deal with!”

Now everyone was at least grinning, even Trucy, who felt the vice grip around her chest loosen ever so slightly. The noise of a chair being moved made her jump. Looking around, she found Ann patting the cushion of a stool, motioning her to sit in it. Not sure what else to do, Trucy meandered over and sat down. Looking up, she saw everybody's eyes on her.

Off to the side in a booth was Akira, who adjusted his glasses before starting up again, “I’m sure you’ve already figured it out so I’ll just go ahead and say it: we are the Phantom Thieves. We are real, and we do change the hearts of people who are corrupt and dangerous.”

Shaking off the momentary shock of Akira talking (yeah, she’s still not over it), Trucy took a deep breath, “Yeah, I did know. I heard you guys talking last night. I suppose I have no right to ask since I went to you guys first, but why? Why put yourselves in the path of this kind of danger so often?”

The Thieves took a moment to think about her question before Haru spoke with no room for argument, “Because we didn’t want anyone else to feel like we did.”

Trucy raised her eyebrows before Yusuke continued, “There are way too many cases of people dealing with corruption and having no one to go to. Some are lucky and manage to escape, others… we find lives are far too easily given up due to people such as Wakisaka.”

Trucy already knew this, after all, she’s seen it on a daily basis, but that didn’t stop her hand from covering her mouth, nor her eyes from widening. But that begs another, brutal question, “Wait, ‘to feel like we did’?”

Akira nodded, “Yep. Every single one of us here has been abused or taken advantage of by people in powerful positions. We know first hand how hard it is, especially considering our bad guys were in _really_ powerful places. It, uh… it gets pretty dicey out there. The meaner the person, the harder their heart is to change.”

Futaba shuddered, “There was a teen who told us about their mom who manipulated kids into going to her house where they would be kidnapped and sold off to do God knows what. The teen had reported it to the authorities hundreds of times, but a lot of the higher-ups in the division were in cahoots with the mom, so they did jack squat.”

Trucy wants so badly to throw up, to scream, to curl up and block out the world. She’s seen awful, she’s seen horrific, but this place… there wasn’t a word in the human language that could describe what it was or how it felt. More than once she found herself clenching the bottom of her pajamas in her hands out of reflex. Her hands were sore, and she bet if she examined them they would be red too.

Ryuji shrugged his shoulders, “I guess it wasn’t all terrible. We met each other because of all of this… we also fought God once. That was neat.”

Everyone sniggered, even Trucy after a little bit of silence. Leave it to Ryuji to cheer everybody up. She then thought of a way to continue that train of thought, “Wait, if you fought God, what else is next? Fighting the sun or something?”

Trucy immediately felt bad at everyone’s sudden tenseness. Clearly, that was the wrong question. Makoto eased her anxiety, “Well, right now we’re just kind of winging it. We, uh, didn’t really think there would _be_ something after all of that.”

Yusuke hummed at Trucy’s raised eyebrows, “After the whole grand finale, our powers went away, thankfully, but then… they showed up again, along with everything in-between as if all of it never disappeared in the first place. We eventually decided after an all-nighter that it came back to stay because… greed and corruption will never go away in humans.”

Trucy winced as Ann scratched the back of her neck and explained even more, “At first, we were going to ignore it. We did our part. We got in enough trouble, but… a handful of people were still posting on the forum. People that still needed _help._ We were the only ones who could free them from their pain. What kind of assholes would we be if we let these people rot away into obliviousness like we almost did when we can just as easily stop it?”

Haru spoke up quietly, “Nobody deserves even a fraction of what we got.”

Futaba was even quieter, “Period.”

Trucy nervously looked around before chewing on her lip. She looked at the floor, “Can…” Dang, girl, just bite the bullet already! “Can you tell me what happened to you guys?” 

What traumatized them so badly that they still wanted to go and help others despite terribly _not_ wanting to do so?

The Thieves jumped at her question before looking around the room at each other. They all gave one another looks that essentially said ‘yikes’. Ann spoke out loud what they just silently communicated, “Not that we won’t tell you, Trucy, but it’s long. And, well, awful. Are you sure you’re equipped to deal with it?”

Trucy stopped. She didn’t want them to tell her stuff they were still uncomfortable with, but… this was important. What drove them to such lengths? What kind of other God-awful, horror stories filled this place? How badly have these guys been utterly failed by the adults around them? She took a deep breath, “Just rip the bandaid off already.”

Everyone sat down and slouched deep in thought. They weren’t sure how to start with their endless information. Information that was gruesome no less. Eventually, Akira decided for them like the stable leader he was.

“I guess we should start at the beginning.”

\---

Trucy’s gut was twisted into a million pretzels.

She wasn’t sure what was more nauseating, the stories themselves or how _easily_ and _calmly_ they told her them, basically saying, ‘Hey, this is a normal part of our lives and we’re okay with that!’ It reminded Trucy too much of, well, _her_ life, as well as the rest of her friends and family. The only difference is that _she had proper lawyers to help her out._

_“So, you know, Kamoshida didn’t like how much better the track team was doing, so he took me down permanently, as well as the team for a while. At some point, he became a giant perv, or maybe he was always like that.”_

_“He… took advantage in multiple ways. For a while, I even convinced myself that I liked it, that it was really needed. Then… everything that happened to Shiho… any line of reason due to trauma was thrown out the window.”_

_“Honestly, after everything I’ve seen while doing this, Madarame’s comment about how he just let my mother die in front of him sometimes feels like an afterthought. Of course, the knowledge never leaves, but… some days are better than others.”_

_“I never realized how much people wanted me to the perfect little girl who always listened. Then, the one time I didn’t, I put everyone’s life in danger. Everything in our lives revolves around that stupid app, even my sister, who was going down a… rough path due to all of her expectations as well.”_

_“They wouldn’t shut up. The voices, my shadow mom… they kept telling me to end it. That I should’ve gone with her originally. They wouldn’t leave me… I couldn’t leave my room for years. I lost half my childhood to those bastards. Not to mention what Sojiro gave up...”_

_“I haven’t seen Sugimura in weeks, and thank God for that… but, some part of me still misses my father. Whenever I do, I always wonder how good of a person I really am. Should he have gotten a second chance to prove his heart had changed? Or did he hurt too many people, and am I just a sad, desperate, little girl longing for the days when he gave a shit?”_

Trucy was purely bawling by Ann’s story and was metaphorically grasping at the air as to not sob or make noises during the rest of them. They needed to tell their stories after all. After Haru finished her tale, Trucy briefly glanced over to Akira, who seemed to be mindlessly listening. Not that she blamed him, even if this was the same story over and over again it had to be hard to listen to.

Her small glace was enough to bring him out of his stupor with a full-body flinch. Oh crap, that’s right, he hasn’t told his yet! He probably thought she was expecting something from him too! She needed to rectify this, after all, he already showed her about his preferences with verbal communication, “Akira, no, you don’t have to tell me anything! You guys have done more than enough…”

Her voice trailed off as she watched him register her words and slowly shake his head in response. Before she could object, Akira grinned, “No, it’s okay. I wanna tell you. Tae says I should get this out more anyway, especially to people who I trust.” He took a deep breath, and Trucy tensed.

A moment of silence filled the room, the air got stuffy, then, Akira breathed out and began. Trucy could tell he was leaving a lot of details out, not because he was scared of sharing, no, it was because Trucy could blatantly see that if Akira shared _every important thing_ he wouldn’t be able to finish before her daddy got there.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Shido was the whole reason I got involved in any of this, and how I know any of this exists in the first place. Why I had to deal with such horrid conditions from students and adults alike for the first couple of months. He’s also the one who killed Futaba’s mother, and put a hit out on our principal, rigged countless elections most likely, he even… he took major advantage of someone we knew in a way that was unforgivable. We can’t even make it up to that person, since, well, Shido…”

Trucy felt her heart jump for a sec, “... How old were they?”

Akira sighed, “He was around our age.”

_Holy jeebus._ Trucy thought she knew corrupted and dark, but…

This was a whole new level. Again, did lawyers even exist here? Well, apparently they do, but it must only be by a technicality, seeing as they practically do _nothing._

Wait, there was another thing, “Hold on, why don’t-- sorry if this is rude-- why do you not talk in public then?”

Akira’s eyes widened before he looked away momentarily. Staring at Morgana, who looked like he nodded in sympathy, Akira looked back at Trucy, “I figured if most of the populace wasn’t going to listen to what I had to say to defend myself, then what was the point of talking at all? My friends have helped me, hence while I only talk around them, but when they’re not around...”

More tears forced their way out of Trucy’s eyes. Man, this was just awful.

Suddenly, Ryuji was up in her face with one of his stereotypical grins. He placed one hand on each of her shoulders and spoke with such a seriousness Trucy wasn’t aware he had, “So after that shit show I hope you’ll listen to what I’m about to say: right now, your situation is shitty. It sucks one hundred percent. But… you don’t have to deal with it alone. You have us, okay? We know how it feels to be in your position way more than is healthy, but that just gives us all the more credibility.”

Yusuke nodded in the background, “Ryuji is right. It’s easy to feel that you are alone in this, but that’s what _he_ wants you to think. What he doesn’t need to know is that you have a rag-tag group of Thieves on your side.”

Makoto was fired up, “A group of Thieves ready to kick ass.”

Haru hummed, “We’re right behind you, Trucy. Lead the way.”

Mona mewed joyfully while Akira made his typical singular nod in agreement.

With tears down her cheeks, the only thing Trucy could manage was a small grin and a whispered, “... Thank you.”

Ryuji grinned wildly and threw his fist into the air in victory, however, he did it slower than usual as to not startle the shaken girl in front of him. A few feet away, Futaba spoke as if nothing could prove her wrong, “Pssh, even if we weren’t the Thieves, we _are_ your friends, and if we’ve learned anything over these crappy years, is that true friends are invaluable!”

Suddenly, Trucy felt that she could breathe again. Then, she started smiling, “... Can you tell me more about the story of the old lady?”

Ryuji blinked once before processing her question.

Then, he suddenly wasn’t the only one cheekily grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHHEEEEW I HOPE THIS ISNT AS ANTI-CLIMACTIC AS I FEEL IT IS
> 
> so theres the big whammy! the whole reason why the meta nav still exists! i like it. i like symbolic shit when its not being ham-fisted into my face so why not. im kinda tired so i guess i leave this note here. as you can see im trying to get back into a semi-regular posting schedule with this again. i dont have anything else im dying to write so time to force what little energy i have onto this fic!
> 
> please let me know if there are any glaring typos! criticism is allowed as long as it comes from a place of respect~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)


	10. Result found.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trucy was as light as air! She's got a plan, she's got friends behind her, and even if he didn't really know everything, Daddy would back her up no matter what! They might have hit a roadblock in taking down Niou, but the Thieves all say that the information they need will come naturally. They shouldn't rush anything.
> 
> Maybe Wakisaka'll be stupid again and just tell her. Wouldn't be anything new for him.

She would be lying if she said she didn’t fall asleep.

The two gravel hits signifying today was over was what abruptly woke her up like a scene from a cartoon. She was lightly dozing on her closed fist when the small _bang bang_ from the judge nearly made her jump out of her seat. Her body, which was rather exhausted, gave her some mercy in the form of only flinching and sitting up straight as a board.

It’s been a long couple of days.

More investigation led to more red herrings, which her daddy softly but forcefully brought up whenever he was the main person speaking. Each one was like dropping a penny into a full cup of water. Every fact drop caused the water pressure to be ever so slightly higher, making the liquid get closer and closer to spilling everywhere, and the only thing stopping it being the water tension alone. Her daddy was pushing it, each penny making the tension thinner and thinner.

Thank God he was good at his job. He stopped right as the water threatened to burst and cause a mess everywhere in the form of something, hopefully, _not bloody_ at the very least.

The judge ended the day by haphazardly clearing his throat and saying that they will continue to “review evidence” as the days went on. Or, at least, that’s what Phoenix told his daughter what happened. She was suddenly relieved that she had fallen asleep. If she were awake to hear it herself, she might have screamed.

It was obvious. Everyone saw that Wakisaka was lying out of his buttocks. Nothing was adding up, but nobody _did_ anything about it! It was absolutely ridiculous! It was totally obvious that he was wrong and that this was a bologna case but nobody wanted to admit it! It’s as if they were scared or nervous or something! Why couldn’t they just concede and let this go?! She and her daddy wanted to go home already!

Her question was answered by her daddy when he mumbled something on the way out of the room, something he probably didn’t want her to hear, “Man, what is he doing? Threatening them?”

_Oh, right, he was. Her being one of them._

She suddenly felt bad about getting angry before. Now that she was experiencing it first hand, she could see plain as day _why_ no one was spilling the beans. Man, it sucked, but in some ways, it just made it madder. _This_ was the kind of torment he has been putting these poor people through? More than once? It was despicable. It made her sick but filled with determination. She had never been more fired up to take someone down.

But Akira and the others hadn’t even made it a single step closer to figuring out what they needed. They gave her a very, very brief summary of how they took down their “villains” so to speak, and it apparently involved a whole bunch of riddles?

_“You heard us search for his Palace, right?”_

_“Uh, yeah, I think? I heard some weird, text-to-speech thing while you guys were figuring out certain words”_

_“To get into a Palace, we need three things: their full name, a place they deem of high importance, and a keyword.”_

_“Huh, okay, I get the name, but the other two are because?”_

_“Their Palace is usually based off of somewhere important to them, somewhere they have complete and utter control over their victims. The twist, however, was how they viewed it as well, hence the ‘keyword’.”_

_Trucy tilted an eyebrow._

_Someone cleared their throat, “Here, I’ll give you a few examples. Kamoshida’s Palace was located at our school and his Palace ended up being a literal ‘castle’, showing how he thought he was essentially king of that place.”_

_Someone made a noise of agreement, “Correct, and Madarame’s house was seen as a really popular art ‘museum’, something he desperately craved at the time: to be popular and loved by the masses, or by mindless followers.”_

_Trucy slowly nodded her head, “Ah, I see”_

_“Mmhmm. The courthouse my sister mainly worked at was a ‘casino’ in the Meta-Nav, Kaneshiro was living in a ‘bank’ flying above the city skyline, and Shido… The Diet Building was just sitting on top of a giant cruise ‘ship’ over a sinking and torn-up city. He clearly was willing and ready to leave us all to die to further his self-centered plans.”_

_Trucy flinched. Jeezums…_

_“So, yeah, a Palace is usually some kind of workplace for them and how they feel about it. The way they see it is usually horrifying and selfish, by the way.”_

_“Okay, sounds good. So, is there, um, anyway I could help speed this process along?”_

_The Thieves grinned. Oh, Trucy was already an amazing teammate, “That’s where you come in. We have no idea what he’s like, and the internet isn’t much help. Since you and your dad see him, while not as much as we would like, but enough to get a good read, we need you to tell us everything and anything suspicious. And we mean everything.”_

_“Yeah! Trust me when we say, at this point in the process, any suggestion is a good suggestion.”_

_“But, of course, if it’s too much, we have our own ways of getting the info. We are professionals, just say the word and you won’t even need to lift a finger.”_

_Staring with awe in her eyes, Trucy gulped down her anxiety and spoke firmly, “No, I want--_ need _to do this. Wakisaka needs to go down, and I want to be there every step of the way.”_

_A chuckle came from the leader, “Well then… Welcome to the Phantom Thieves, honorary member. We’ll be glad to have you on our side.”_

_Akira held out his hand, which she gently and weakly shook back._

_She was terrified, but she wanted Wakisaka gone as soon as possible even more than to be safe, so she was willing to do anything to get to that peaceful future as fast as she could._

_It was the least she could do for them after all they were giving up to help her._

However, she had made absolutely zero progress, mainly because she hadn’t gotten close enough to the man to even stare at him, but they didn’t have time for ‘not being able to get close.’ The final day was drawing so much nearer than any of them would have liked…

“Ah, Mr. Wright!”

Speaking of drawing closer.

Trucy, who was getting pretty good at the will-as-strong-as-steel thing, took a step closer to her dad at the sound of Niou’s voice, followed by rather loud footsteps towards their location. She wasn’t sure if her daddy would pick up on the reason behind it, but Wakisaka had his head so far up his butt that he certainly didn’t see anything.

Hearing the voice, followed by his daughter getting a little closer than she usually liked (which was an incredible feat considering how close she stood to him on a daily basis, so that usually meant something was wrong), Phoenix was on high alert. Turning around with one of his biggest “lawyer smiles” he could muster, he waved hello as the rat-disguised-as-a-human. Wait, that was unfair to rats, “Ah, Wakisaka! Good job out there today! You’re really running me through the wringer!”

Trucy felt her sweat levels increase at Wakisaka’s hearty laughter. It felt natural, _too_ natural, and she knew exactly why. Wakisaka placed his hands on his hips, “I could certainly say the same towards you, my dear defense attorney! Usually, by now, I’ll have been back home for a couple of days, but it seems like you don’t want to get rid of me just yet! Are you secretly into me, Mr. Wright?” With a cocky raise of an eyebrow, Wakisaka slung his arm around Wright’s shoulders. Thankfully, it was the side where his daughter did _not_ preside at the moment.

If Wakisaka wanted to creepily chuckle, then Phoenix could too, dammit, “Now, then, Mr. Wakisaka, don’t get too far ahead of yourself!” Trucy couldn’t actually tell if Daddy wanted the arm off of him or not. His acting had gotten really amazing, hadn’t it? He still did push her a few inches away just to make sure she wasn’t in the arm’s radius. Good, make sure she doesn’t get cooties, “I would love to be home just as much as you, but it would feel wrong to just leave a case without tying off all the loose ends, would it not?”

Trucy thinned her lips at the not-so-obvious eyebrow twitch from Wakisaka, who managed to laugh despite it. Again, “I suppose you’re correct. Courthouses are a thing of beauty, after all. When I’m up there, why, it just feels like I’m soaring! I suppose I can see why you’d want to stay and enjoy the view as much as possible!”

The two men laughed awkwardly again. They clearly didn’t want to be in such close vicinity to each other, but they had dug their own graves at this point. Now it was just a question of who was going to lie in theirs first.

As the two of them continued to vaguely threaten each other, Trucy froze and entered her head for just a little bit at the metaphorical feeling of ice water rushing down her back. _It just feels like I’m soaring!_ The way he so easily said those words... It might have been the only thing in his rambling that wasn’t forced to heck and back. Combined with what her new friends told her...

_It’s usually how they view their workplace…_

_Any suggestion is a good suggestion..._

Oh, that was big. It was _huge,_ even.

Suddenly forgetting this was the man that was making her life a living hell, Trucy took one bound toward Phoenix and regripped his arm in a way that got her ‘daddy’s girl’ charm ringing loud and clear, “Ooh, ooh! Daddy! I almost forgot! There was that cool rolled-up ice cream shop! You promised we’d go to it today! We’re almost out of time to do so! Come on!”

Blinking a few times, Wright grinned at his daughter. He was tired and hungry, he always loved seeing his daughter with pure joy on her face, and he also wanted to get away from here as quickly as possible. Those four things created a mean combination of ‘not seeing the ulterior motive behind his daughter’s words’ for the first time in his life, “Oh, right! Thank you for reminding me, honey. Sorry, Niou, but duty calls! I’ll see you again in about a week or so!”

And with that, Trucy dragged her daddy out by his arm as he waved cheerfully goodbye to the prosecutor, who’s waves weren’t as big nor as cheerful. For once in her life, Trucy couldn’t have given less of a shit. She was winning for once in this stupid race and she deserved her ice cream. Life was good.

After stopping for a little bit outside the ice cream shop because some kids were lost and Trucy wanted to make sure their parents were found (she even did some tricks for them, the sweetheart), the Wright Duo was back at their hotel room, sharing a bed and mindlessly watching the TV. A bowl of popcorn was at their feet, and while they were split apart at the moment, Trucy was originally resting her head on Daddy’s shoulder while he rested his on the top of her brown hair.

The only reason Trucy relented was that she could _feel_ her dad’s eyes start to droop and his shoulders start to sag. After the fourth or so jump in his body that signaled he was trying to stay awake, Trucy sat up, stretched her arms above her head and fake yawned, “Gosh, Daddy, why are your shoulders so freaking hard?”

Blinking, Phoenix grinned and figured two could play at that game, “Well, I’m glad you said something. I was worried I was going to have to explain that I couldn’t lay on your head because of how itchy and stinky it was. You need a bath, baby girl.”

Trucy feigned offense, “Daddy! How could you?!”

The two giggled into submission. There were now a couple of inches of empty air in between them, not noticed as the show they were watching was starting to get heated. Out of the corner of her eye, Trucy made sure to wait for the right moment. That moment started right as Wright’s chin slowly fell to lay on his chest and not get back up.

Trucy watched as Daddy continued to slowly drift off to sleep. Okay. Good. She needed to make sure he wasn’t peering over her shoulder, plus, he really did need sleep after the last couple of days. He wasn’t joking _that_ much when he said Niou was putting him through hell, and if the only way he was getting shut-eye was by passing out, then Trucy wasn’t going to stop him.

After watching the slow rise and fall of his chest for a few seconds, Trucy deeply inhaled before exhaling rather lethargically. Quietly pulling out her phone, she finally checked the message she desperately wanted to check. While Daddy and Niou were going at it, her phone dinged. She didn’t check it out of fear the other two men would see it. But neither of them were here now and that meant freedom. Reading the name of the text brought relief to her whole body.

_**Futaba S:** heyyyyy guuuurrrl. i hate to be an annoying bug_

_**Futaba S:** but have you gotten anything yet???_

With a cheeky grin Trucy didn’t even realize she still had in her, she replied quickly and curtly. Oh, yes, she may have only had one thing, but it was big. Monumentous even, and she only hoped that it would be enough.

_**Trucy W:** Oh, I have something alright_

_**Futaba S:** GASP is it cafe time??? tell me its cafe time!!!_

Trucy rolled her eyes playfully.

_**Trucy W:** Yuuup. The case is picking up heat, so it won’t be difficult to convince Daddy to let me stay at the cafe for a day again. I’m not sure it’s correct, but I /do/ feel something. Something worth having an in-person meeting over, that’s for sure_

_**Futaba S:** YOU DA MAN WRIGHT_

_**Trucy W:** You know it! <3_

_**Futaba S:** im genuinely impressed! It takes a long ass time to get this info for us, but you did it lickety split! seriously, way to go!!!_

Trucy’s fingers hovered over her screen for a moment. Her chest felt like it was going to burst, and the tips of her ears were probably red from blush. Clearing her throat softly, she continued to type.

_**Trucy W:** Thanks. That means a lot_

_**Futaba S:** np! ill make sure everyone gets off their lazy butt for the meeting (and yes, that includes mine, before you point it out)_

Trucy let out a singular snort.

_**Trucy W:** Sounds good. See you then, Futaba_

_**Futaba S:** YEEHAW_

Trucy continued to snort as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

\---

“Be safe, bun bun, I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Mmhmm! I will, Daddy!”

It was very easy to get Phoenix to let her stay at the cafe for the day. Her new friends were trustworthy, plus, he didn’t want to leave her alone at the hotel while he investigated _more_ locations for Yasumi’s family. And here he thought back home was bad about leaving out important information until the very end.

With the _ding_ of the bell signaling someone entered the building, seven Thieves’ heads popped up like groundhogs. Once they saw the familiar magician, the somewhat damper mood sprung to life. They made noises of exclamation ranging from gasps to ahs. With a nod from Sojiro, the teenagers went up to Akira’s room and formed their typical Knights of the Round Table formation with an extra spot for Trucy.

“Sooooooo Truce,” Ryuji said, drawling playfully, “What did you find? It has to be good since Futaba simultaneously blared our phone alarms at the same time.”

Everyone grumbled in annoyance and agreement. Futaba raised her arms in the air, “I plead the fifth!”

Rolling her eyes, Trucy immediately got into the nitty-gritty details of the meeting, “Wakisaka said something at today’s courtroom meeting that _has_ to be important! I bet my magician’s hat on it!”

Makoto pulled her phone out in preparation. Yusuke nodded, “That’s what we were expecting.”

Ann shuffled closer to the table in excitement, “Well, don’t keep us waiting! What’dja hear?”

The magician rubbed her hands against her legs in anticipation, “Then I’ll get straight to the point! He was chatting with Daddy when he said being in the courtroom made him feel “like he was soaring!” That has to be important, I swear!”

Haru ooo’ed and brought her hand to her chin, “That _is_ big.”

Ryuji chuckled, “More like a glaring target! C’mon, what soars? What soars?...”

During the repeat of his question, Ryuji trailed off to be in his thoughts while Makoto went straight for the kill. She held her phone up in front of her, “A blimp?”

**No results found.**

The cat meowed for a little bit.

**No results found.**

Before Trucy could question whatever the hell was that, Ryuji sputtered, “A _bird?!_ Really?!” 

Trucy was still reeling over that experience when Akira left no room for argument, “A plane.”

**Result found.**

The rest of the Thieves plus Trucy jumped in their seats while Akira softly muttered, “Idiots.”

Ann smacked her forehead, “Man, we really are. How could we not come up with that?”

Yusuke shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, “We’re a little rusty. It was to be expected that we would make a couple of flubs.”

Futaba thinned her lips, “Yeah, but not coming up with ‘plane’ after being given the word ‘soar’?”

Nobody could answer, so dead silence filled the air like a ton of bricks.

Akira cleared his throat. Makoto cleared hers as well, “Regardless, we have our Palace, thanks to Trucy.”

The girl in question was bouncing up and down in her seat with anticipation, “So, let’s go!”

Now _that_ silence was even more awkward.

Trucy blinked, confused and naive, “What? What are we waiting for?”

Haru opened her mouth, yet Ann was the one who talked, “There’s a lot more than just going in and kicking his ass. There’s a process to it.”

Ryuji, of all people, put his foot down, “One that’s _long_ and difficult and we don’t want you getting directly involved.”

Trucy sputtered. What? Was she not good enough? Had she not proved herself yet? “Wait, so you’re leaving me behind? What else do I need to do?!”

Haru was finally able to get something in, “Trucy, it’s not that you’re not capable, but…”

Yusuke was the one to clear his throat this time, “It’s very dangerous, and we mean _dangerous._ ”

Makoto continued for him, “You’re incredible, Trucy, but you don’t have what it takes for this part of the process.”

Futaba sighed, “And here I thought _I_ was bad at explaining things. The Meta-Nav needs to be on your phone. You don’t have it, and thus, you can’t go.”

Akira nodded towards the ginger, long-haired girl, “Yes, thank you, Futaba, that’s all we needed to say. Besides,” he looked back at Trucy, “You’re still major help in other areas. Just because you can’t _physically_ help with this part doesn’t make you suddenly useless.”

Trucy’s shoulders relaxed at their explanations, Futaba’s especially. The puff of her cheeks left with an exhale, “Oh, okay. Then good luck, I guess. Stay safe?”

The uncertainty in the last part of her statement brought a grin to Akira’s face, “Oh, don’t worry, you know we won’t be.”

Trucy was taken aback before she started laughing. Honestly, she should have expected that!

The rest of the Thieves relaxed at her relaxation. They made so much progress, they deserved to have a small break. Ryuji threw a fist into the air, “Alright! Vindication! Now that that’s over…” The blonde stood up and threw his arms out into a 90-degree angle between them and the rest of his body.

“My vote is for charades!”

And charades they played. For the next couple of hours, they repeated the vibes they had at their sleepover party but ten times better. Not only did they have each other, but they also had _information._ That was able to light up any darkness at the moment.

A couple of hours later, Phoenix came into the cafe, spoke some mindless words to Sojiro as he waited for his daughter and texted some friends back home. The Thieves all meandered down the stairs behind Trucy to watch her leave. They scattered around the cafe, pretending to not seem like they’re invested in the interactions between their new friends.

Phoenix put his phone away for a moment to wrap Trucy in a hug, “Hey, baby.”

Trucy gave one right back, “Hey, Daddy!”

A few more words were exchanged between everyone, but the most important thing exchanged at that moment was non-verbal and between Trucy and the Thieves. Their eyes got serious in a way only they could tell the orbs did, and suddenly, they had trouble swallowing the lumps in their throats. Trucy could pick up the message loud and clear: _we’ve got your back._

She only hoped they got hers: _don’t worry, I know you do._

With a wave goodbye, Trucy was out of the cafe, arm linked with Phoenix’s and down the street. Daddy was a little lost in thought (probably thinking about where he would take the case next), but that was okay. Trucy was still caught in her mind too, the euphoria of winning tasting like gold on her tongue. All the way to the train station she hummed a light and happy tune. Today was great, which meant tomorrow was going to be _stellar._ They made it to their ride, went inside and found two open seats.

Sitting down, Phoenix changed his focus to his child, who’s adrenaline high was ever so slowly dwindling, “So, honey, how did your hangout go?”

Bright-eyed and innocent, Trucy beamed, “It was amazing! Akira taught me how to make coffee!”

Eyebrow twitching at the thought of Trucy hyped up on caffeine, Phoenix swallowed his minor annoyance to instead be happy that his daughter was perking up again. He could tell she was falling down some kind of rabbit hole for the past couple of days and he just couldn’t figure out why. Of course, he’s still going to try and find the answer, but right now, he was content to watch Trucy be her giddy, little self, “That’s great, honey! Godot sends me unique and rare blends from time to time, but I have no idea what to do with them. Maybe you can help me?”

Trucy’s nods were rapid, blurring together as if she were in a cartoon and in the middle of a smear frame, “You betcha! Maybe I’ll teach Uncle Miles first, though, have you _seen_ how he butchers his coffee? It’s a miracle that machine is even still alive!”

The laugh Phoenix let out was whole and hearty, “You’ve got a point there, sweetie. Honestly, Maya and I have considered holding an intervention.”

Trucy leaned back and crossed her arms, “Well, stop considering and start doing! I’m getting tired of Klavier’s whining. The only reason I haven’t asked him to stop is that I’m using all my energy to make sure Polly doesn’t kill him!”

Phoenix leaned back too as he draped his arm over his daughter’s shoulders, “I will be sure to take your opinion into account, don’t worry.”

Trucy hhmmphed, signifying that the conversation was done for the day, allowing the two family members to ride the train back to their hotel in blissful, non-awkward silence.

Placing her head on her dad’s shoulder, she slowly closed her eyes and widened her grin even slower than that. Right as she felt her breathing even out, signifying that the sweet release of sleep has taken over, she felt something that a couple of days ago she wondered if she could have ever felt again during this gigantic mess.

Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bon jovi muffled in the distance* SQUIDWARD ON A CHAIR
> 
> i have been writing like a motherfucker recently holy cow. there's not much to say right here except for the fact that i should warn you that updates for this fic have gotten slow and they (unfortunately) will stay that way and im slightly sorry for that. as much as i love this fic and i promise i WILL get it done my writing energy does not want to cooperate and it sometimes feels like a giant wall is in between me and this fics next chapter. regardless, i hope you enjoy this newest update!
> 
> if you see any glaring typos just let me know! criticism is okay as long as it comes from a place of respect~
> 
> If you wish to scream at me here's my [tumblr](https://halorocks1214.tumblr.com/)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The First Crack](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890782) by [TheDarkOne121](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkOne121/pseuds/TheDarkOne121)




End file.
